Obituary of Charles Kenneth Lunden

Union - Charles “Kenny” Lunden, Jr., 68, passed away peacefully on March 31, 2016 at the Sussman House in Rockport, Maine following 7 weeks of home hospice care provided by his wife. He fought a courageous battle with cancer. Kenny is survived by his wife of 48 years, Marlene Lunden; a daughter, Jana K. Lunden-Sadler and her husband Stewart J. Lunden-Sadler of Dublin, Ireland; his precious granddaughter Suvi Kateriina Lunden-Sadler, a cherished sister Diane Laing of Warren and her partner John Pushaw, brother in-law Truman Hilt and his partner Amy Small of Windsor; several special cousins, nieces and nephews. His cousin Eileen Partanen has been a tremendous support to the family, looking after the home and dogs during Kenny‘s treatments and spending many weekends visiting and providing Reiki therapy. He was preceded in death by his parents and in-laws, his son Kurt M. Lunden who passed away in 1986 and his dog “Greta”. Kenny was born in Rockland, Maine on April 20, 1947 to Charles and Esther Lunden of Warren. He graduated in 1966 from Georges Valley High School in Thomaston Maine. Kenny enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1966 for a four-year period and was stationed in Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Thailand and Florida. He worked for four years at B.M. Clark & Son in Union followed by a 23-year career at the Maine State Prison in Thomaston. Following his retirement at age 50, he then started working for EBS in Camden for 17 years. Kenny had a passion for creating an eco-friendly home and took pride in providing heat with the wood he cut and solar panels that he installed. He generated electricity from his windmill and built a solar kiln to dry wood and laundry and also sunbathe on cold Maine days. Being 100% Finnish, Ken thoroughly enjoyed any traditional sauna including the one he grew up with, the ones amongst the Finnish community in Knox county and especially the one he constructed at his home in 1987. His dogs even enjoyed the sauna as much as he did. Kenny also had a special interest in making bean-hole beans at his camp at Beaver Cove every Saturday night throughout the summer. Ken started to enjoy traveling abroad when his daughter moved to Ireland in 2003. He visited nearly every year and recently said those were some of the best memories of his life. Kenny also had an unforgettable trip to Sicily where Jana was married. He even named one of his Moosehead deer “Taormina.” Kenny wrote this three weeks ago: My fondest memories are with Kurt and Jana during our many weekends at Megunticook Lake where we would barbeque, swim, snorkel and fish from early morning to late afternoon. In more recent years, my most special times were spent at our camp at Moosehead Lake with family and friends from near and far. I married the love of my life on September 30, 1967 and we accomplished so much over our years together. I have had the greatest life with my family, dogs and friends who are as close to me as family. All that I have done in my life is more than many people could ever dream of. Every day was filled with happiness and laughter. I would like to acknowledge three men who taught me to fly: Phil “Buggy” Morine who taught me to fly a weed-hopper, John Reilly who taught me to fly a six-place piper and Brian Daggett who taught me to fly a Buckeye parachute plane. I would like to also express many thanks to our special friends Diane and Greg Moody who were always there for us through thick and thin. I also have many wonderful memories of numerous motorcycle trips with Vern and Shirley Berry and sitting around campfires with the Ellis’ and friends at Beaver Cove. I love nature, fishing, hiking, cutting down trees and building everything I could think of from log to sawmill to boards and various projects. I took pride in all my craftsmanship, carvings, woodworking and metalworking and felt achievement in all that I did. My father taught me these talents and skills. I have carried on long enough now so ….”That’s all folks!” A celebration of Kenny’s life will be held on Sunday, April 10 from 1:00-3:00pm at the Masonic Lodge in Union, Maine. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to any local animal shelter or one’s favorite charity.