Kenneth Avery Kordonowy died on August 6, 2015 at the age of 70, peacefully in his bed of natural causes. He had been residing in Arizona. He was preceded in death by his parents Frank and Stella. He is survived by his siblings, Darlene from Bainbridge Island, Wash., Tom (Jan) from Deephaven, Minn., Nita from Lindstrom, Minn., and David (Anita) from Minnetonka, Minn.
Ken was likely the best baseball player to come out of Belfield. If a pitcher can strike out 19 batters in a seven inning game, which Ken did, then he can throw the ball. Ken carried the Belfield American Legion baseball team to the semi-finals of the North Dakota State Championship with his arm. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pitch every game.
After graduating Belfield High School, Ken attended North Dakota State University for two years but he wanted to pursue his love of baseball. He tried out with the New York Yankees and then with a Kansas City Royal’s minor league team, but it was not to be, so Ken joined the U.S. Navy. He served in the Vietnam War aboard the USS Oriskany, an aircraft carrier. In 1966 explosions occurred on the ship and the terrible accident was reported in the national news. Communications were not what they are now, so the family was in suspense for many days before learning of his safety. 44 sailors died in that accident and many hundreds suffered injuries.
After Ken’s discharge from the Navy, Ken found work in the construction industry briefly and subsequently in the oil industry. His work took him to Texas and Louisiana, then overseas to Zaire, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Siberia and Russia and Ukraine, (perhaps, even a few other countries). Upon retirement, Ken lived in Thailand for a few years before returning to the States where he lived with his brothers for a while, with his sister Nita for a year and finally with Darlene and her husband Jay on Bainbridge Island. The desert agreed with him so he moved to Arizona. It is there that he died.
A graveside Memorial Service with Deacon Leonard Kordonowy presiding, is planned for Ken at 1:30 on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the St. John’s Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery in Belfield with a small social gathering following. Military honors will be provided by the Belfield American Legion William C. Blair Post 144.
