Lifetime Lake Stevens resident,
Kennaugh passes at 90 years old

Lake community loses a true original JOURNAL STAFF Albert Woodrow Kennaugh, age 90, of Lake Stevens, died February 18, 2009.

Al (called “Allie” by his parents and brothers) was born to John Thomas “Tommy” Kennaugh and Cora May (Mowbray) Kennaugh on Nov. 6, 1918, just before the end of The Great War. He was born in his grandmother’s house, which still stands on what is now 117th Avenue NE in Lake Stevens, joining three brothers. At the time of his passing he was, to the best of our knowledge, the oldest person born in Lake Stevens who still lived in Lake Stevens.

He attended Lake Stevens schools, but also spent short lengths of time in Helena and Great Falls, Mont., when his parents visited for extended times in the area where they met. He enjoyed playing sports when he was younger and watching as he got older. Kennaugh met his wife Wynona Countryman, at a local play area when they were playing baseball as kids.

He worked for Faschi Gardens (along Hartford Drive) as a young man, and also did local repair work with the railroad. He drove a fuel truck for the Everett Co-op from 1937 to 1954 (with time out in the Army during World War II) where he played on the company baseball team. He spent about three years with Weyerhaeuser.

In April of 1957 he joined the Water Department at the Snohomish County Public Utility District. He transferred to the Electric Department line crews later and retired as a Head Groundman and Equipment Operator in June of 1979.

He enjoyed a long and healthy retirement, spending much time doing things with his family, working in his yard, and tending his vegetable garden.

During World War II Kennaugh served as a combat infantryman in the China-Burma-India theater of operations with the Mars Task Force, attached to Merrill’s Marauders. He was an expert sharpshooter with the Garand M-1 carbine and with the Thompson sub-machine gun. He earned one of the most respected awards, the Combat Infantry Badge.

He truly enjoyed the outdoors. He loved to fish with his brother Wes and with Roy Brooks and others. He loved to hunt deer in eastern Washington yearly with Wes, Roy, Hugh Smith, and several others. The group members changed over the years, and Kennaugh is the last of the original group.

He was a loving and caring husband and father. Nothing came ahead of family, and his hobby seemed to be “work.”

He spent countless hours helping “the kids” with every aspect of home improvement and automotive care. And he spent hundreds of hours, along with his brother Wes, Gayle Whitsell, Keith Morgan, and others in constructing the initial Lake Stevens Historical Museum building. He and Wynona were charter members of the Historical Society and served regularly as museum docents for more than 10 years.

He was active in the Hartford First Baptist Church, and later in the Lake Stevens First Baptist Church when the Hartford congregation moved. He sang in a beautiful tenor voice.

Kennaugh was preceded in death by his parents, Tom and Cora Kennaugh; brother Gilbert, killed in action in World War II; brother Roland (known as “Red”); brother Wes and sister-in-law Evelyn; sons-in-law Kenneth Wolfe and Howell “Hal” James; infant grandson Christopher Kennaugh; eldest son Keith Kennaugh; and the love of his life, Wynona (Countryman) Kennaugh, to whom he was married for over 68 years before her passing on August 19, 2006.

She, too, was born in Lake Stevens, about six weeks after Dad and about six blocks away. They were the longest-married “native” Lake Stevens couple that we know of.

Kennaugh is survived by daughter Sharon of Marysville; son Bruce and daughter-in-law Ellen of Lake Stevens; son Craig and daughter-in-law Linda of Camano Island; nine grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren (with two more on the way).

A celebration of life honoring this member of “The Greatest Generation” will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2009, at Elim Lutheran Church, 11504 26th Street NE, Lake Stevens.

Though things got tougher after his wife Wynona and son Keith died and he approached 90, Kennaugh said, “I have no regrets. I’ve had a good life.”

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