Ken Tohinaka
September 6, 1940 - November 14, 2018
A coroner surprisingly awarded Ken a lifetime achievement award when he suddenly succumbed to non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on Wednesday. It was quite the surprise since he appeared to be symptom-free and further had never required doctor’s care or medication other than the occasional antibiotic. And the disease’s toll was both swift and complete. He managed to have a last laugh of sorts, however, and relished in its irony. After being discharged from the hospital for the final time, he continued to be pain-free and remained stable for a month. In fact, he gained some weight, eating whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, feeling better and stronger with each passing day. This path could not be sustained of course and wasn’t, the flame suddenly and painlessly extinguished.
He is survived in birth order by a brother, Carl; a sister, Janice; and a brother, Ray. Ken was the oldest. The older of two sisters, Sue, died of breast cancer while a practicing attorney in Chicago. Both parents are deceased after surviving the rigors associated with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent necessity of moving inland from California. His parents managed to prosper and educate all of their children. The grandchildren bear even greater promise.
Ken served in the Army in South Korea and West Germany from 1963-1965. He lived in Vermont for over 30 years where he gained friends and his life partner, Shirley Haw, who died in 2011. After living alone for 6 years Ken moved to Salt Lake to be closer to family and eat good food.
In absentia, Ken offers profound and public thanks for all the support and well wishes he received from all of his family, friends, and acquaintances. Per Ken’s wishes, there will be no services.
Kanpai.
In Loving Memory
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.
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.
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 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
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
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 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'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.
Ken and I were office mates at VEIC in the late 90's. What a great guy with an awesome sense of humor! (It was by accident my husband and I found a copy of the VT Life magazine with him on the cover as the quintessential Vermonter in a Lake Placid used book store.) Loved his mischievous look as well as his incredible dedication to energy efficiency and making the world a better place despite hardships he and his family endured during his childhood. His love of music, especially the Grateful Dead, became a lovely synchronous connection at my next job. (He was regularly presented with generous and voluminous gifts of GD cds by John Burczy from VHFA.) And though he shook his head in wonder at the unsolicited and random gifts, he appreciated them all. Like them, Ken was a gift to everyone he met.
In Loving Memory
