Kenneth J. Stahl,

Our father, Kenneth J. Stahl, passed away on September 16, 2018, at Shannondell, his home for the past 12 years. He was 95 years young.

Dad was born in 1922 to Urban and Mary (Burket) Stahl in Scranton, PA.

He graduated Scranton Technical High School and then enlisted in the United States Army after Pearl Harbor.

He was a veteran of World War II and served with the 82nd Airborne Division, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment from 1942 until December 1945 in the European theater of operations. He fought in both the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. He was awarded the European Theater service medal with 4 bronze stars, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Glider and parachute wings, and the Presidential Unit Citation. He came home with shrapnel in both legs and was truly a member of the greatest generation.

After the war ended, our Dad attended the University of Scranton.

While working at the Tobyhanna Army Depot, he met the love of his life Helen Sables. They married in 1949 and he went to work at the General Electric Company in Scranton where he was testing the newest kitchen appliance, the dishwasher.

After several years, they started a family with son Gary coming first and daughter Patti several years later. We all moved to the Norristown area when our Dad took a new job at GE with the start-up of the space program. Over the 41 years he worked there, he had the opportunity to inspect many products that the company produced for NASA, including retro rockets used on the Apollo spacecraft and several small nuclear generators that were left on the moon by the Apollo missions to power instruments that are still sending pictures and information back to earth today. He worked with GE Re-entry systems divisions as a quality control inspector and assurance engineering representative in King of Prussia and Philadelphia facilities.

Dad was a founding member of Saint Titus Church in East Norriton, and became a 4th Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus. He enjoyed woodworking, gardening and growing geraniums during his life.

At Shannondell he found that he had a natural talent for billiards and won several trophies. He really enjoyed the men and women he played billiards with every week and truly enjoyed the daily happy hour with his new friends and fellow residents, followed by a great meal. Living there was a very inspiring experience for him and his family.

Dad was proceeded in death by our mom Helen in 2012, his parents and brothers Urban and Arthur earlier. He is survived by his son Gary and his wife Patricia and their two sons Steven and Thomas, his daughter Patti and her partner Jenny, his sister Joan, and special nieces Judy and Maura.

We would like to thank Reliant At Home Care and caregivers Noel, Jill, Marguerite and Marian for the tender care you provided for our father in the last months of his life, Shannondell nurses Annie and Lynn, and Aseracare Hospice Nurse Pattie for the daily visits and support everyone showed during his journey home.

A memorial service for family and friends will be held at a later date.