Kenneth S. Mayer

Kenneth S. Mayer departed Homestead Village for that great railroad yard in the sky on November 3, 2022, after a brief illness. Ken was born in Binghamton, New York, on November 25, 1923, the oldest son of Albert Kenneth Mayer and Gertrude North Seward Mayer. His father died when he was just eight years old, and Ken subsequently grew up in the greater New York City area with his mother and two younger brothers, Dwight and Richard. Following his high school graduation in 1941, Ken worked as a remittance clerk for Standard Oil in New York City for a year, followed by a semester at New York University. Meanwhile, the United States had entered World War II. Instead of waiting to be drafted, Ken enlisted in the Army in January of 1943, and proudly served as a combat medic and company clerk with the 78th Infantry Division in England, France, Belgium and Germany. During his time in the service, Ken was able to earn additional college credits at Fordham University and the University of Nancy, France. Upon his discharge from the Army in 1946, Ken enrolled at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, to complete his college degree. Soon after arriving at Roanoke, Ken met the love of his life, Lois Carol Huffman, from Luray, Virginia. They married shortly after their graduation in 1948 and shared sixty-nine wonderful years together before Carol passed away on November 5, 2017. Ken was the devoted father of three daughters, Nancy Mayer Hughes, married to Kevin, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Wendy M. Roberts, married to Ralph, of Cornelius, North Carolina; and Julie Pedelini, married to Guy, of Lititz, Pennsylvania. He was the proud grandfather of Laura Roberts Bowen, married to Oliver, of Redwood City, California; Christina Meredith Roberts, of Charleston, South Carolina; John Kenneth Hughes, of Mason, Ohio; and Daniel Bruce Pedelini, of Lititz, Pennsylvania. In recent years, he was delighted to welcome three adorable great-grandsons, Alex, Patrick and Caleb Bowen, to the family. Ken spent his career in banking, first with State Planters Bank in Richmond, Virginia, followed by thirty years with Equitable Trust Company in Baltimore, Maryland. He always had an interest in economics and followed the stock market on almost a daily basis until a week before his death. In 2002, Ken and Carol moved to an apartment at Woodcrest Villa in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they participated in a number of activities and clubs. They relocated to Mennonite Home shortly before Carol’s death, and then Ken moved one last time in September of 2021 to an apartment at Homestead Village, which he described as the friendliest place he had ever lived. In their retirement years, Ken and Carol enjoyed traveling to Europe, cruises to the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Panama Canal and Alaska, and tent camping throughout the United States and Canada. In 1998, Ken and Carol took their entire family on a memorable cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Throughout his entire life, Ken loved trains. He built a number of different model railroad layouts over the years, some only a few square feet in size and others that filled half of the basement of the house in Baltimore. His daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren all have fond memories of being allowed to “play trains” with him. He relished his role as the patriarch of the family and will be deeply missed. A Memorial Service celebrating Ken’s life will be held at The Groffs Family Funeral Home, 528 W. Orange Street, Lancaster, PA 17603, on Sunday, November 27, 2022, at 2:00 p.m., followed by a reception for family and friends at the Groff Event Center, 234 W. Orange Street, Lancaster, PA 17603.