Kenneth C. Jordan
1930 – 2009
VINALHAVEN — Kenneth C. Jordan, 79, of Lewiston died suddenly at his home on Vinalhaven Island, Sunday, Sept. 20. He loved his island home almost as much as he loved his wife Edith, his children, Jeffrey and Kimberly, his son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Anne and his beloved grandchildren, Rob, Kate, and his dog, Sophie.
Ken was born in St. Petersburg, Fla., on June 18, 1930, the second son of Gladys (Russell) and Elmer Jordan. He spent his childhood in St. Petersburg and Lisbon and Harpswell, and graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1948.
After high school he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served aboard a navy cruiser where he discovered that his love for the sea just couldn’t surpass the extreme seasickness he encountered from the time he boarded the ship until he disembarked.
He moved back to Maine and enrolled in the Industrial Arts program at Gorham State Teachers College. He graduated from Gorham in 1955 with a bachelor of science degree in education and then embarked upon a 37-year career in vocational education, first as a teacher and then as an administrator at the Lewiston Regional Vocational Center.
Over the course of his career, he built the program from three course offerings to a multi-million dollar regional vocational center that had 36 different programs when he retired in 1991.
He earned his master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Southern Maine in 1969.
He loved his students and was the consummate teacher who truly believed that all students, regardless of their situation, were capable of achieving success in life. For many years after his retirement, he would be stopped by grown men and woman in the greater Lewiston-Auburn area and thanked for all he did for them in helping them achieve their dreams.
In 1991, he was honored as the public administrator of the year by the Maine Chapter of the American Society of Public Administrators in recognition of his years of devoted service to Maine. Upon his retirement, an award, the Kenneth C. Jordan Vocational Association Award, was established in his name at Lewiston High School, to honor his years of devoted service to vocational education.
While a student at Gorham, he met the love of his life, Edith L. MacDonald of Vinalhaven. They were married on June 21, 1955 at Vinalhaven. He and Edie shared 54 years of a loving, happy and devoted marriage. Their love for each other was a shining example of what a wonderful marriage should be.
They were the proud parents of Jeffrey Kenneth Jordan and Kimberly Anne Jordan Gailey and were devoted to and extremely proud of their grandchildren, Robert Harrison Jordan and Katharine Anne Jordan. Nothing made him happier in his retirement years then to spend the day with his grandchildren, watching their ball games and karate ceremonies, working in his gardens at the 200-year old island home that he restored, or laughing and being with “the gang” and his family in Lewiston and on the island.
He was a member of the National Educational Association, the Maine Educational Association, the American Vocational Association, the Maine Vocational Association, the Maine Vocational Administrators Association and the Maine Industrial Arts Association. He was also a member of the American Legion and the Androscoggin Retired Teachers Association. He served for many years on various boards and committees of the United Baptist Church in Lewiston.
He is survived by his wife, Edith of Lewiston; his son and daughter-in-law, Jeffrey and Anne Jordan of South Portland; his daughter and son-in-law, Kimberly and James Gailey of Kittery Point; his grandchildren, Rob and Katie Jordan of South Portland; his brother, Emery “Rip” Jordan of East Boothbay; his sister, Shirley and her husband, Paul Witte, of Topsham; and many special nieces and nephews.
His sister, Jackie Birge of Atlanta, died in August.