Ken Tohinaka

I'm so very sorry for your loss. But may the words of Jesus Christ be what helps you to find what he spoke in John 5:28,29 to where we find him giving us a Guarrantee that he will resurrect ones like your dear loved one back to life again and then be able to enjoy an endless life as Gods word the Bible has given us in Psalm 37:29 which reads:The righteous will possess the earth and they will live forever on it. So may these words bring some real comfort in the coming days.

I am sorry to hear that Ken has passed. I had the privilege of knowing Ken for 25 years through the Weatherization Assistance Programs, BPI and VEIC. Ken was always a great dinner companion at many, many conferences across the country. Spreading the good word about Building Science and some very funny stories. My thoughts are with Kens family and friends. VM

I worked at Building Performance Institute in Malta, NY and knew Ken through the VEIC partnership with us. I always loved talking with Ken and he was always so passionate Home Energy Performance. My condolences to his family.

I had the good fortune to work with Ken for several years when I first joined VEIC. Ken taught me so much about how buildings work, how they don't work and how people live with and deal with building failures. He was generous with his knowledge, a wonderful colleague and friend. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to learn from Ken. His knowledge will continue to be passed on in the realm of building science and energy efficiency where it will be used to better living conditions for people who are renting and lack the means to fix their homes. With love and warm memories of Ken, Jen

Ken was an old friend and colleague of my husband, Don Goff, when they worked together during the late 1970's -80's in Vermont for the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity. The two men shared a love of ideas, jazz, and small delicate things. I remember Ken as a quiet man with twinkling eyes who left a career in academia to pursue work that he believed might make the world a better place. Ken had a quirky sense of humor best illustrated by the delight he took when he was featured on the cover of Vermont Life's maple sugar issue one winter featuring Ken in a vintage WWI pilot's cap complete with ear flaps, flamboyant, crazy print pajama pants and hunter's vest, enthusiastically using a hand carpenter's drill to tap a birch tree. His autographed copies of that edition (on request) became collector items in the Community Action Program world. Over the years we drifted apart as people do when their paths no longer cross on a regular basis. But he kept tabs. The last time Don and I saw him was about 6 years ago when he and Paul Birnholz, another Poverty Warrior, showed up with pastrami sandwiches in hand to have lunch with Don who by this time was housebound with advancing dementia. My last contact with Ken was this past January when we exchanged e-mails around Don's death. Ken mentioned that he had moved to Utah, but never indicated that he himself was ill. I will always remember him as a good and gentle man who indeed did make a difference in the world. My deepest condolences to his family. He will be missed. Norma Wasko

During our junior and senior years in college and for a while thereafter, Ken and I maintained a close and constant friendship. I look back with great fondness on that period of my life and Ken was a major part of it. His sparkling intelligence, his wit, his general dedication to fun made it a truly enchanted time. I have thought of him often in the intervening years. All who knew him recognize that he was a unique and delightful person, whom we are fortunate to have known. My deepest sympathies to Carl, Janice and Ray and their families.

Ken and Shirley were patients in our Dental Office for many years. They brought in stories and sunshine to our office. Ken was amazing and kind. He kept in touch after he moved to live with his siblings, and kept us posted on their travels, and especially his "food finds". He last wrote us on July 5th and discovered Victor's Tires and Salvoradan Place for great food. We kept telling him to start a "food blog". We will miss him and his humor.

Ken was the best boss anyone could have. We worked closely together years ago to establish the Weatherization program in Vermont. He and Shirley were the nicest people and will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.