Kenneth Rohde

Kenneth Lincoln Rohde, an early pioneer in the nuclear industry, died December 18, 2017, at MorningStar Assisted Living Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho, at the age of 94. Ken was born February 12, 1923, in Chicago, Illinois, to Henry Emil Rohde and Jeannette (Aepinus) Rohde. After attending public school and Lutheran Primary School, he graduated from Amundsen High School in Chicago in 1940 and attended Lake Forest College. In 1943, he joined the Army and served in Europe during World War II in the Signal Corps. After his return, he graduated from Lake Forest College, earned a master's degree in chemistry from Northwestern University, and then taught physics at Lake Forest College. At the beginning of the 1950's, he was hired to work on early nuclear projects at the West Stands at the University of Chicago. On June 27, 1953, Ken married Alice Violante, a biochemist he met on the beach in California when they both were investigating shellfish toxins. Within the year they moved to Idaho Falls, where he worked at the Idaho National Reactor Testing Station, currently known as the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He worked for 27 years at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP) from 1954-1981. During this time, he rode 700,000 miles on INL buses getting to and from work. He was an active member of the American Chemical Society and the American Nuclear Society. After his retirement from technical leadership in 1981, Ken greatly enjoyed being a volunteer city guide in San Francisco and a volunteer Librarian at Eastern Idaho Vocational College in Idaho Falls. He and the family loved small ship cruising through the locks on the Columbia River. Ken loved the western mountains, hiking in the Tetons, working with the Boy Scouts, and he especially loved spending time with family and their dog, Jenny, at their small log cabin in Tetonia, Idaho. From his first train ride at a very early age, he loved railroading and train watching. He rode and documented almost 100,000 miles of train rides in his life. Ken is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Alice Rohde, three sons, Kenneth (Martha) Rohde of Connecticut, Larry (Ruth) Rohde of Montana, and Don Rohde of Ammon, ID, and two grandchildren, Andy Rohde and Sarah (Rick) Brown. Private Family Services will be held at a later date.

Private Family Services. He passed away