James Kenneth Ditty changed his address on November 10, 2018 to Heaven, at the age of 84, where he will be residing throughout Eternity! The transition occurred at his summer home in Milton, Washington.

Ken, (his mother could tolerate "Ken or Kenny" more than she could "Jimmy"), was born in La Grande, Oregon, on July 11, 1934. His parents were Leslie Caruthers and Leva Martha (Brown) Ditty. By the way, Keen missed by one day of being his mother's twentieth birthday present.

The Ditty family were farmers and ranchers, originally from the mid-west.

In 1934-1935, they moved from La Grande area to south west of Nyssa, Oregon, after purchasing 320 acres of sage brush, which became a productive row crop farm.

In 1940, Ken started attending Owyhee Elementary School, which was a three-room building accommodating approximately 80 students.

At the end of WWII, the family moved approximately 25 miles from the farm to Ontario, Oregon, which allowed him to finish junior high and graduate in 1952 from Ontario High School.

Ken was accepted by Bethany Bible College, located in Santa Cruz, California. Which With a double major in Music and English Bible, Ken graduated in 1955, and honored Student Body Vice President. It should be noted that during this time, his family moved to Tacoma, Washington where he lived for a year. In 1956, he was accepted into Cascade College, location in Portland, Oregon.

During the next eight years, Ken got off track from his pursuit of a bachelor's degree. Too many distractions with physical problems, extended hospitalization, poor decisions, unfavorable timing to get married and have children; then a divorce! However, in 1964 he returned to Cascaded to finish his degree with a full time schedule, while working in steel construction on a graveyard shift, seven days a week.

In 1966, Ken received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English. A couple of months later, he went to southern California to find work and complete a master's degree. On the last day of his trip, Los Angeles School District was so desperate they put Ken under contract to teach elementary school.

Ken usually joked that he had too much in common with the elementary kids, because they could only identify the teacher by finding the biggest kid. So, they transferred him to the Adult Education Division of Los Angeles City Schools.

Other significant accomplishments and honors:
* 1971 Teacher of the year, southern California
*In 1971 in two semesters, awarded Master of Science, from the University of Southern California, specializing in Higher education Administration
*1972 employed by the University of Southern California as a Specialist in Continuing Education. After the first year, Ken became the Director of Continuing Education. After the first year, Ken became the Director of Continuing Education for the School of Business for on/off campus programs. During the same year, he was the lead administrator to assist in implementing the practice of awarding credits for most Continuing Education programs.
*In 1974 elected president of the California Council for Adult Education.
*In 1976 Ken left education and purchased a manufacturing company, which he sold two years later to his employees.
*In 1980 Ken became the campaign manager for a candidate in a local election. There were 13 people running for 3 offices, and his candidate held the record for the number of votes over 12 years. About that same time, he became involved with the California Republican Assembly.
*In 1982-1983 Ken was the Orange County Chairman for the California Republican Assembly.
*In 1984 he became the State Vice President for the California Republican Assembly. That same year, he organized, with the help of the Orange County Congressman, The Americans for Freedom Fighters. The members of this organization represented 26 of the 28 nations that had fallen to Communism. A highlight for the organization, besides raising thousands of dollars for the Freedom Fighters, was a visit by Colonel Oliver North.
*In 1985 until 2011 life changed rather dramatically for Ken because of serious heart problems. It required him to become semi-retired.


Other important activities:

Ken's first marriage was in 1959 to Ms. Carol Nichols in Portland, Oregon. They had two boys; Kevin Todd born in 1960, and Kale Brent in 1961. In 1978, Kevin took his own life. Marriage ended in divorce in 1965 during finals week.

The second marriage was in 1974 to Ms. Marilyn Smith of San Diego. She had two boys, Steve and Tim, that were almost the same age as Ken's. In 1982, Ken adopted the two boys. This marriage ended in divorce in 2000.

The charming third marriage was in 2008 to Ms. Vahne Rhei Dierking, of Tacoma, Washington. This required the ultimate sacrifice on Ken's part, which was to give up 42 years in Southern, California to live in Tacoma, WA. The battle is still brewing.

Ken has been preceded in death, listed in order: Sister, 1940; Father, 1973; Son, 1978; Sister 1979: Mother 1988.

The survivors are: Brother, in California: Son, Bend, Oregon: Son, Cincinnati, Ohio; Son, Mission Viejo, California; seven Grandchildren, Washington. California and Ohio; two Great Grandchildren, Washington.

There are more details in the Eulogy which will follow, soon!