Kendall P. (Ken) Langstraat was born in Bellingham on June 6, 1947, and passed away on Dec. 26, 2018.
Ken attended Lynden schools, graduating in 1965. He earned eight varsity letters in four sports at Lynden High School and was senior class president. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served from 1967 to 1969, including a year in Vietnam.
He graduated from Western Washington State College in 1972, majoring in psychology with minors in economics and accounting. He began his career with General Telephone of the Northwest in Everett in 1973 as an accountant, followed by various executive positions involving capital budgets and technology planning for GTNW and for the GTE Western Region headquarters in Los Gatos, California, from 1980 to 1981, GTE Service Corporation staff in Stamford, Connecticut, from 1981 to 1989, and GTE Telephone Operations headquarters in Dallas, Texas, from 1989 to 1991. His career with GTE primarily involved planning for the growth and modernization of the GTE telephone network.
Ken was married to Jan Mundy from 1975 to 1980 and to Betty Bennett from 1981 to 1987. He ended both marriages while he was going through the emotional turmoil of early symptoms of multiple sclerosis. He was eventually diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS in 1991 and the illness slowly progressed. He took medical retirement from GTE (now Verizon) later in 1991 and had lived in Bellingham since 1995.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Peter and Tracie Langstraat; and sisters Gracia Fuher and Pam Dykes.
He is survived by his brother Harlan in Lynden; sister Anita Ford in Everett; and numerous cousins in Whatcom County and Iowa.
Ken requested cremation and private services.
