VANCIL, Kenneth Melvin

bluemountaineagle.com 4 Dec 2012 Kenneth Melvin Vancil, 70, of Prairie City, died Oct. 19. Services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. He attended school in Mt. Vernon, graduating in 1960. He worked as a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service. He served in the U.S. Army and went to Vietnam for two years, from March 3, 1967 to March 21, 1969. After returning, he attended Merritt Davis School of Commerce in 1973 to study drafting technology; Portland Community College in 1994, to study Lotus Spreadsheet, and Oregon State University in 1977, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in construction engineer management. He worked for Roadway Construction from 1974-1986, West Coast Railroad Construction from 1987-1989, and Western Paving Company from 1990-1994. He worked for Morse Brothers, later bought by Knife River, where he worked until his retirement. He enjoyed camping, fishing, and elk season during which he could get together with the guys for two weeks. He and his wife had planned to travel, but after multiple sclerosis took over his body, they stayed home and enjoyed watching Western movies and OSU sports on TV. Survivors include his wife, Jonnie Vancil of Portland; sister, Alice West of Canyon City; three sons, Curtis (Megan) Vancil of Portland, Troy (Treasa) Vancil of Drain and Shane Vancil; and his children and great-grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to Willamette National Cemetery, in care of Crown Memorial Center, 8970 S.W. Tualatin Sherwood Rd., Tualatin, OR 97062.