Alfred F. Kenrick
April 22, 1928-March 13, 2006
Palo Alto, California

Alfred F. Kenrick, a 42-year- resident of Palo Alto, died March 13, 2006, surrounded by his family. He was 77.

Born in Haddon Heights, N.J., on April 22, 1928, he was raised in Deposit, N.Y., lettering in football, basketball and baseball at Deposit Central High School. He earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1949, and attended Harvard Business School. He served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

While stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., in 1949, he met Mae Belle Meinen in church one Sunday after she noticed a fine tenor voice in the row behind her. He left for Korea shortly after their first date and proposed marriage to her by mail. Upon his return, they married in Goodland, Kan., on Dec. 16, 1951.

He began his career with General Electric. Co., in Schenectady, N.Y. and soon was transferred to California, where he was involved in selling the first nuclear power plant to Japan. He later worked at Applied Technology, Inc., in Palo Alto, and in 1968, was among the five engineers who founded California, Microwave, Inc., a satellite communications equipment company in Sunnyvale.

While raising his four children in Palo Alto, he was involved in scouting, Little League coaching and Y Indian Guides. He was a member of the Palo Alto Rotary Club, serving as president in 1987-88. He was particularly proud that Palo Alto Rotary raised $125,000 that year in support of Rotary International's campaign to eradicate polio around the world. He was also a member of the Palo Alto Club, the Acorn Club, Piledrivers and was an active, lifelong member of the Christian Science Church.

For many years, he raised canaries in an aviary he constructed in his back yard. He loved to ski, golf, dance, windsurf in the bay, play the piano, travel with his wife and spend time with his 12 grandchildren. For years, he regularly exercised with the "dawn patrol" at the Palo Alto Family YMCA, and he was an avid fan of Stanford football.

Kenrick is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mae; four children and their spouses, Chris Kenrick and Mark Chandler of Palo Alto, Chessa and Randy Lutter of Bethesda, Md., Al and Helena Kenrick of Palo Alto, and Steve and Karen Kenrick of San Jose; his sister, Barbara Miller of Tucson, Ariz.; and his 12 grandchildren.

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