Kenneth Elliot Tigney was born and raised in the Annapolis Valley, the eldest of four children of Elliott and Greta Tingley. He attended Acadia University (Class of 1955) and Nova Scotia Technical College where he graduated with his degree in Electrical Engineering. He later attended Harvard Business School, graduating with an MBA in 1962.
Ken was also a graduate of Hantsport School and Editor of the 1949 Class Yearbook.
Kenneth Tingley was a grandson of Rev. Llewellyn J. Tingley, Baptist minister, who served in various locations but was largely based in Windsor, Hants County. Rev. Tingley held education in high regard as evidenced by the direction in his will3 that Ken’s father, his young son L. Elliott Tingley, be supported “until he shall have completed the ordinary high school course, together with a course at some Business College (or) .. desire to take a University Course”.
Rev. L. J. Tingley purchased property in Hantsport from Capt.Clarence Coalfleet in 19103 and his son Elliott Tingley, Ken’s father, purchased property in Hants Border in 19554 so the family has a long association with the area.
It is interesting that Ken Tingley’s obituary mentions he was an avid pianist. Here is a memory shared by Stephen Hart5.
When we were at Jennifer’s place (Thanksgiving 2017) we each thought of a few stories to share from our earlier lives.
A few days later I thought of this one from my life when I was about 12 yrs old I think.
We had neighbours at the corner of Willow and School streets for a short period of time and
for about a month mother hosted their son Kenneth Tingley for dinner each school day.
He would rush in and sit down at the piano and rattle the keys for perhaps 15 min waiting for
dinner. He would play a jazz tune every day from memory at high speed with no mistakes
and I would be thrilled every day because I did not know such music could be played on the
piano and had never heard our piano used like that before. The Johnston Rag I think.
Ken was not the only musician in the family. His sister Helen (a 1950 Hantsport School graduate) won the Hants County Music Festival piano solo competition for age 16 and under with a mark of 88.
Kenneth Tingley OBITUARY7
Kenneth Tingley Oct 12, 1932 – Jan 28, 2017 La Selva Beach
Kenneth Tingley, whose accomplished life took him from a one-room schoolhouse in rural Nova Scotia to Harvard Business School and a notable career as a technology executive, passed away at home on January 28, 2017 after a lengthy illness.
Ken was born and raised in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada, the eldest of four children of Elliott and Greta Tingley. He attended Acadia University and Nova Scotia Technical College where he graduated with his degree in Electrical Engineering. As an officer cadet in the University Naval Training Division, he was one of a select group of cadets chosen to be part of the prestigious Royal Canadian Navy cruise to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Upon graduating from “Tech” he married Donna Shaw of Halifax, Nova Scotia. They went to Montreal where Ken joined the Canadian General Electric Test Program before moving to New Jersey with Union Carbide in 1958.
Ken soon realized that management was where he belonged and the couple moved to Massachusetts where Ken attended Harvard Business School, graduating with an MBA in 1962. Ken’s business career began in marketing with Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto, California. One of his signature accomplishments while there was the creation of the innovative flying demo program in which he equipped a PAN AM DC 6B with Hewlett Packard equipment, visiting over 100 international locations, including South Africa, Taiwan, Lebanon, and New Zealand. After this successful stint at HP, he moved the family to France to work at Schlumberger Instruments as General Manager of their European Marketing Division. In 1974 he returned to the US with Northern Telecom in New Hampshire and later General Signal in Massachusetts.
Ken and Donna built a second home in Chester, Nova Scotia in 1991 and spent many happy summers there visiting with family and old school friends. They moved back to California and have lived in La Selva Beach since 1996.
Ken was an avid reader, pianist, tennis player, skier, and skater. Passionate about language, literature, politics, vintage cars, bridge, music, the New York Times crossword puzzle, and wine, he was a lively conversationalist with a sharp wit. Ken was proud of and fascinated by his ancestor, Joshua Slocum, the first person to single-handedly circumnavigate the world, and author of “Sailing Alone Around the World.” Ken is predeceased by his parents.
The family is grateful for the support of dear friends as well as the caring doctors, nurses, and caregivers at Dominican Hospital and the Infusion Center, Santa Cruz Hospice, and Care From the Heart, during Ken’s illness.
Sources:
- Hantsport School 1949 Yearbook, HHS Collection
- Hants County, Nova Scotia Court of Probate, Estate No. 135 B
- Hants County Registry of Deeds, Book 107 p.11
- Kings County Registry of Deeds, Book 182 p.28
- Email dated 19 October 2017 from Stephen Hart to Leland Harvie
- ‘The Halifax Chronicle-Herald’, 13 May 1950
- Obituary printed in the ‘Santa Cruz Sentinel’, January 2017