Kenneth Goudy Jr.

He was born on September 15, 1936, in Yakima, WA, to Ken Sr. and Melinda Goudy as their first child. Ken spent most of his youth being around, traveling with, or helping his father in his long-haul freight jobs. This exposure gave Ken his passion for all things associated with trucking. It led him to work in the field after graduating from Marquette High School in 1957, having had his high school tenure prolonged due to being diagnosed with MS in 1953 and spending an extended period in the MS ward of the Yakima hospital. Ken’s trucking career took him all over the state of Washington. It was in Seattle in 1960 when he joined the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and was assigned to the OSS Pathfinder, where he spent the next nine months surveying the Alaska coast and the Aleutian Islands. After his tour in Alaska, he returned to Yakima and briefly rejoined his father working in the trucking business. Soon after, he had the urge to do more and moved to Pullman to work for West Coast Airlines.

In Pullman, he met the widow Eileen Szasz and her two daughters, Julie and Candy. In 1962, Ken married Eileen and adopted her two daughters. In 1963, Ken and Eileen welcomed their daughter Sallie into the world. Shortly thereafter, West Coast Airlines transferred the young family to Astoria, Oregon. After a few years in Astoria, Ken returned to Yakima to rejoin his father in the freight business.

His new job at the Oregon, Nevada & California Fast Freight Company had him on the move again, first managing their depot in Ellensburg. It was during this time that Eileen was diagnosed with cancer. Despite undergoing treatments, she unfortunately passed in April of 1970. Ken became a single father of three girls ages ten and under, and his company had a new assignment for him to run their operations in the Tri-Cities.

In 1971, Ken’s life changed once again when his friend Morris Bunger introduced him to an acquaintance, Elaine Garbe. Elaine was a widow with a daughter and two sons. The two quickly became a couple thanks partly to their shared background since Elaine was born and raised in Selah, WA, and the two living up to their favorite song, Help Me Make it Through the Night. They were married in Touchet, WA, on December 26, 1971, and the newly blended family lived in the cozy confines of the three-bedroom house at the Hilltop Ranch until they could purchase a five-bedroom house and 15 acres from John Munns.

Ken adapted to his new small-town rural life by joining the Touchet-Gardena Lions Club as well as putting his artistic talents to work on community projects like the pen and ink drawings of the Touchet School buildings in 1976 for a plate that commemorated the opening of the new building and demolition of the sixty-year-old building.

Ken realized that as a husband and father of six children, the daily commute to the Tri-Cities was impractical, and he decided it was time for a career change. Leaning on his artistic skills, Ken and Elaine bought the Superior Signs business from the retiring George Cousins in Walla Walla. Ken’s artistic talent quickly made him the top sign shop in Walla Walla. Ken’s reputation for high-quality work soon brought him business from Cascade Airlines and many fire departments in Eastern Washington because he was one of the few people who could do gold leaf lettering for the fire engines.

As a new business owner, Ken joined the Rotary Club of Walla Walla to be part of an organization that provided various community service and valuable insight into Walla Walla’s business community. Ken excelled in the club, serving in various officer roles and being named Rotarian in 1982.

While Ken no longer worked in the freight industry, trucking was still his passion. Shortly after moving to Touchet, he joined the American Truck Historical Society (ATHS). He was well known to his fellow members for being the staff artist for trucking publishing legend Geni Rice’s Truck Tracks magazine and the artist and co-editor on three Geni’s Relics of the Road book series. As was Ken’s way, he rose to be a leader in the ATHS, serving on their national board from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. During this time, he also published two more book series of, Overnight, While You Slept, with his pen and ink illustrations and the stories of the early days of West Coast trucking. Over his forty years in ATHS, Elaine and Ken regularly helped organize the annual national truck show that they would subsequently attend and get to see most of the regions of the United States. Their involvement in ATHS was such that they organized an Australian tour for the members, including guided tours of the truck lines in the Outback.

During his twenty years of running Superior Signs, Ken showed his acumen by always being on the leading edge of technology. He was one of the first sign makers to transition from hand painting to computer design and automated production of vinyl lettering. This shift was particularly significant as, in the nineties, Ken parlayed his talents into a second thriving business making trucking decals for models. His knowledge and skill made him the preeminent provider in the US.

Following their youngest leaving for college in 1982, Ken and Elaine sold their hobby farm in Gardena. They relocated themselves and the Superior Signs business to Walluala Road near the Big Y intersection in no man’s land between College Place and Walla Walla. They remained there until Ken semi-retired and sold the place and Superior Signs in 1997 while also relocating to their dream Pacific Northwest location of Oregon City, where they made a circle of friends based around other retired trucking executives and their local Grange.

In 2012, Ken and Elaine moved to Ephrata to be close to their eldest daughter, Julie, and her daughters. Over the next six years, they established themselves within the community, active in their church and the local senior center.

In September 2018, Ken and Elaine moved to Hillcrest Assisted Living to help with Ken’s advancing dementia and Elaine’s loss of vision. They remained at Hillcrest until August of 2020, when, due to Covid restrictions, they had to relocate to separate facilities in Moses Lake. Ken has been in the memory care unit at Summerwood, receiving the care he required.

Ken was preceded in death by his mother and father, his sisters Sue and Mary, his first wife Eileen, his daughter Julia, and his granddaughter Angela. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Elaine; his daughters Julie, Candy, and Sallie; his sons Howard and Greg; fifteen grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

A graveside service will be held on November 7, 1:00 PM at the Quincy Valley Cemetery, WA, Hwy 28 & 7th Ave SW, Quincy, followed by a memorial at the Ephrata Community Church, 3:00 PM, 54 K Street SE Ephrata, WA.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Ken’s memory be made to the Rancho Santa Marta orphanage and school (https://www.ranchosantamarta.org) or the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum (http://www.pacificnwtruckmuseum.org).

Please leave a memory for the family or sign the online guestbook at www.scharbachs.com

Scharbach's Columbia Funeral Chapel Quincy is assisting with arrangements.