1924~2017
Kenneth Wayne (Ken) Robertson (93) died December 7 in Decatur, Illinois. Memorial Services will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Decatur on December 17. Burial will occur at Camp Butler National Cemetery at a later date. Memorials may be given to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Mr. Robertson was born on the family farm near Eagle City, Oklahoma, on April 6, 1924, the son of Clarence B. and Lena Jane Compton Robertson. He attended the Prairie View, Mount Pleasant, and Garden Valley rural schools, attended Watonga High School for one year, and graduated from Fay High School as co-valedictorian in 1941. He served in the Navy during World War II and was promoted to Chief Electronics Technician. After demobilization, he attended Purdue University where he was elected to engineering honorary fraternities Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu, was a member of the Reamer Club, served on the varsity debating team, and graduated with highest distinction in 1949. He married Jeanne B. Fustier on February 18, 1950 in Evanston, IL. After working for Shell Oil in Texas, Mr. Robertson was employed by Illinois Power Company in Decatur, IL, in 1955. At Illinois Power he led the development and operation of the company’s underground gas storage fields until he retired as Director of Gas Supply in 1989. In 1978 he earned an MBA degree from Illinois State University. Mr. Robertson was a founding member of Theatre 7, Decatur’s community theatre group, was twice elected president of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Decatur, served on the board of Planned Parenthood, and held various positions including Chairman of the Midwest Gas Storage Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. After retiring, he turned to writing and published a book of poetry, a volume of short stories, The Best Kind, and two memoirs, Growing Up in the OK State, and Finding a Way. Several of his poems and short stories appeared in Westview, a publication of Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Surviving are his daughter Jan Elise Robertson Gildehaus and husband Ralph of Durham, North Carolina, two sons, Bret Alan Robertson and wife Ann of Long Grove, Illinois, and Kent Colin Robertson and wife Kim of Defiance, Missouri, and grandchildren Avery, Hannah and Luke Robertson, George and Diane Gildehaus, and Kaitlyn and Caroline Robertson, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife Jeanne of sixty years, his parents, two sisters, and three brothers.