Ken’s Story

 

An Autobiography by Kenneth E. Dorcas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1st Draft, February 2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction –

 

A brief note here to state that I have been asked to write a story of my life – mainly so that my family can have a “book” about me and what I have done. I’ve had many exciting experiences and many dull times to write about.  “We” understand that I am doing the writing and you are doing the reading and I am going to try to manage this so that you will want to read the whole thing including my comments relative to the dull times.  Notice that I said “want”. I can not control what you want so I am going to try to do the best I can to keep the story moving.

 

 

 

If someone would call for this man across the room and yell out “Kenneth come here” our man would not respond but would look around to see who they were yelling at because this man was always called “Ken”. Of course, this man worked several different jobs during his career and made some mistakes along the way causing some people to call him names other than “Ken” – names that can not be included in this autobiography.

However, one name that is printable is “preacher’s kid” because my father was a Methodist preacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grade School – Missouri

 

High School – Oklahoma City

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College – OCU Bachelor Degree (scholarship)  Chemistry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

College – OU Masters Degree,   Physics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jobs –

 

Mott-Smith Oil Surveying – Houston, Texas

 


                        West Texas to Mexican border

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cairo Egypt,trips around the World .Sent to Egypt for 2 years to look for oil in Sahara Desert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Colorado City – Oil Refinery (had resigned from Mott-Smith on return to USA)

                        4 years during which time WWII started.

 

 

 

 

 

 Worked there until I got job in Ft.                    Ft. Worth at Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. (later was Convair,

                        then General Dynamics and finally Lockheed-Martin)

 

            Fort Worth – General Dynamics (got job by answereing ad in Ft. Worth paper)

                        Engineering Test Lab – 35 years;  advanced to Presidential Advisor (VP

                                    Level – 2 years) retired early at age of 62 in 1978

           

            Mid-States Industrial Co. – Self-employed consultant

                        The Lubricant Mfg. Co.

                        The Metal Paint Mfg. Co.

                        Electro-Metal Plating Co.

 

Retirement –

 

            Camper trip to Alaska

 

            Asked many times by Air Force to examine remains of crashed aircraft to aid in determining the cause of crash.  I never got paid. Usually called in wee hours of the morning to come to crash site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction –

 

A brief note here to state that I have been asked to write a story of my life – mainly so that my family can have a “book” about me and what I have done. I had many exciting experiences and many dull times to write about.  “We” understand that I am doing the writing and you are doing the reading and I am going to try to manage this so that you will want to read the whole thing including my comments relative to the dull times.  Not notice that I said “want”. I can not control what you want so I am going to try to do the best I can to keep the story moving.

 

If someone would call for this man across the room and yell out “Kenneth come here” our man would not respond but would look around to see who they were yelling at because this man was always called “Ken”. Of course, this man worked several different jobs during his career and made some mistakes along the way causing some people to call him names other than “Ken” – names that can not be included in this autobiography.

However, one name that is printable is “preacher’s kid” because my father was a Methodist preacher.

 

 

My list of the SEVEN NATURAL WONDERS OF THE USA:

 

  1. Niagara Falls
  2. Grand Canyon (South Rim)
  3. Red Wood Forest
  4. Head waters of the Missouri River
  5. Glacier National Park
  6. Superior Great Lake
  7. Yellowstone National Park

 

 

 

Places where I’ve lived:

 

  1. Greenfield MO                                     born Aug. 3, 1914
  2. Baldwin Kansas                                    1919   
  3. Novelty MO                                         1920
  4. Wyconda MO
  5. Atlanta MO
  6. Clearmont MO (same as Westbord)
  7. Boleko MO
  8. Oklahoma City                         1925
  9. Norman OK
  10. Houston TX                                         1929
  11. Cairo Egypt                                          1930
  12. Colorado City TX                                1932
  13. Fort Worth, TX                                    1942   
  14. Bedford TX                                          1998

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oklahoma City

3901 NW 37th Street

Classon High School

Oklahoma City University

            (interested in electricity – got licensed, built and operated amateur radio station

University of Oklahoma at Norman

            Stayed in rented rooms at several houses near campus

            Uncle Dan

            Uncle Bub

Got car for $75.00

 

Special Areas of Interest for this story of my life:

 

Where We Lived

Girl Friend

Marriage & death (1996) of my wife Lois

Trips (early in life)

Interests (electric circuits, amateur radio)

Music (clarinet, choir)

My parents

Tricycle, bicycle, car

Early schooling  - glasses

Mom & cats

Dad & fishing

 

Papa Ken’s Dad with a catch from Eagle Mountain Lake while on a visit from Oklahom City.  Not awning in background that covered out sleeping porch on the back of the Pershing St. house.  (Gene)

 

 

Amateur radio station   

 

 High Spots in my life:

Received scholarship for Masters degree at OU

Licensed for amateur radio station

Got married to Lois

Two years in Egypt, 1938 to 1940

 

Mom and dad were married on Feb 13, 1938.  That was just a few days before he went to Egypt.  They came back about two years later, and I don't have that date.  They came via the Suez canal, round India, and spent 4 days (or 7 depending on story) in Shanghai, China, waiting for a different boat.  Then entered the US at San Francisco.  (Phil)

 

 

Promoted to VP level at General Dynamics  (some of the employees called me “Mister

            President”

Camping trip Lois and I took to Alaska & when Lois started learning to read maps

Lois and I agreed that I should retire when returning home from Alaska

When Dad was invited to attend my Masters orals at OU

 

When I was very young, after my first day in the first grade, my teacher sent a note home to my parents saying, “Your son had bad eyes. He needs glasses.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born in Greenfield, Misouri on August 3, 1914. My Dad was a Methodist preacher and my mother was a pianist. My Dad had a loud, deep base voice. He did not need a microphone which was quite important because when he started his career there were no microphones…and, further more, even if there had been, many of the places he preached had no electricity. We lived in a number of small towns in Missouri.

 

My Grandpa Dorcas was a “circuit ridin’ preacher”, ministering to a number of small churches across the state of Missouri.  I never did u nderstand if he rode a horse to had a car.  (Gene)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a small town in Missouri, before school age, my father noticed that I was always interested in anything that “ran” such as trains, automobiles, washing machines, lawn mowers, and the like.  Later, electricity became the center of my attention. In early grade school I made a set of telegraph instruments that would work. I had a friend who was also interested in electricity and we were going to connect out houses but couldn’t find enough wire.  We dropped the telegraph ideas when we discovered that “radio” was perhaps going to be a substitute. This amateur radio idea opened up a whole world to me. That is a story in itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-States Industrial Co.  ….consisted of part-time contracts

 

I worked for over 12 companies. The shortest contracts consisted of work that lasted 45 minutes. The longest was for a paint factory where I did consulting work for them for over 10 years. I also worked for a lubricant co. for about 10 years.

 

I had a hard time getting  small companies to sign contracts so I changed the title of my agreements to read, “Statement of Work” and then they would sign immediately as soon as they read them.

 

Over a period of about 15 years I signed up about 15 companies easily in a few minutes after long or short talks about what they needed. One of these companies wanted me to be their general manager but I declined. Another company, owned by a woman who was well fixed financially, wanted me to work full time in her holding company. When I declined, she offered half ownership and no cost to me. I again declined.  This kind of thing occurred many time over the next 10 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amateur radio station – licensed as W5DQJ

            Contacted all 5 global continents plus all US States A  man in grocery store mentioned to the clerk that he was an amateur radio operator with an amateur radio station. I asked him for some help and he helped me in a big way. Got me and 2 other high school students started on building an amateur radio station. I was in the 8th grade at the time.

Built own equipment while in grade school and operated it through high-school

and in college. Disassembled it after graduating from college.  Experience was a big aid in my career. Dad did not like to see me tear it down but it was part of the “leaving home” process leading to working in lots of places including Egypt.

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During first year after Lois died, I got very nervous about driving a car and handling my financial affairs. This is when my daughter-in-law, Sandy, started taking care of my finances and taking me places in her car.

 

Obituary, Kenneth E. Dorcas

 

Kenneth E. Dorcas, 89, a retired chemist, died Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003. 

 

Funeral: 10 a.m. Monday in the Greenwood Mausoleum, Fort Worth.  Burial: Greenwood Mausoleum.  Visitation: 2 to 4 p.m. at Greenwood Funeral Home, Fort Worth.

 

Memorials: Mission Central at the First United Methodist Church of Hurst.

 

Ken Dorcas was born on Aug. 3, 1914 in Greenfield, Missouri, son of a Methodist circuit-rider.  He graduated from Classon High School in Oklahoma City, and then received a bachelor‘s degree in Chemistry from Oklahoma City University, followed by a master’s in Physics from the University of Oklahoma.  He worked as a geophysicist in the Egyptian Sahara Desert for two years.  From World War II until retirement 35 years later, he worked at General Dynamics as chemist, chief of the chemistry and metallurgy departments of the engineering lab, and for a time as vice president. 

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Obituary

 

 

On Feb. 13, 1938 he married Lois Marie Eckerd, who preceded him in death on Dec. 7, 1996.

 

He was a member of Arlington Heights United Methodist Church of Fort Worth from 1942 to 1999, and served there as lay leader, president of the Builders’ Class, scout leader, and institutional representative for the Boy Scouts.  He was recently a member of First United Methodist Church of Hurst and the Wesley Bible Class.

 

He was an avid camper and nature lover, going on many campouts with the family, scouts, the Builders’ Class, and several camping clubs.  He and Lois camped in every state in the continental U.S. and Alaska.

                                                                                                  

During his work as chemist and physicist, Mr. Dorcas consulted on aerospace research and development with Wernher von Braun and NASA on rocket and shuttle design.  He also had conversations with Dr. Albert Einstein, who gave a speech about the research of Mr. Dorcas.

 

Survivors: Son, Gene of Colleyville and wife; Son, Phil of Euless; four grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.