E. Kenneth Stauffer, usually known as Ken or Kenny, was an amazing individual. He was born in 1914 in Sandusky, Ohio. During World War Two, Ken served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He was with the U.S. Infantry Blackhawk Division, fought along the Rhine River in Germany, and received the Medal of Honor and two battle stars. Besides working more than twenty years at the Apex Manufacturing Company, and another twenty years at Mills School, Ken was a sports broadcaster with Sandusky Radio Station WLEC, and he wrote a newspaper column known as "The Sunny Side Of The News" after he and his wife Rita moved to Florida.
Long before I met my husband Tom, he was a first baseman for Mr. Stauffer's traveling baseball team with the Castalia Recreation Department. (My husband Tom is pictured below, when he was about age ten.)
In Ken's later years, especially after the death of his beloved wife Rita, Tom and Ken stayed in touch through telephone calls and letters. Tom and Ken would vividly recall those Little League days. They could remember exactly what towns they traveled to, who made a good play, and every detail of so many of Castalia's former Little League players. They had a bond that lasted through many, many years. Ken and his son Tom, also a radio broadcaster, were both outstanding athletes in their youth. As a grandfather, Ken coached his grandson, who has special needs, in the Special Olympics.
E. Kenneth Stauffer passed away on February 8, 2004 in Lee County, Florida. Funeral services for Ken Stauffer were held at Holy Angels Catholic Church, and Ken was buried with his wife Rita at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. An obituary for E. Kenneth Stauffer appeared in the February 10, 2004 issue of the
Morning Journal. Ken and Rita will long be remembered for their love of family, their involvement in the community, and most especially for their many years of nurturing the young people in their lives.
