Alva Review-Courier -

Kenneth Ray Cole, the only child of Herschel and Ruby Cole, was born August 30, 1928. In 1938 his family moved to the farm north of Alva, where his family farmed and milked cows. Kenney never wanted to take up the farming life, so as a young boy he worked at jobs such as delivering ice, and as a teen he worked for the railroad.

In 1946, just as World War II was winding down, he joined the US Marine Corps. Kenney did his basic training in San Diego where he became a cook. Since the war was ending, he fortunately missed being sent into battle. Instead, his life as a Marine combined hard work and...