KENNETH STANLEY HARDING
1925 – 2024
A self-made man, strong in body and mind, unselfish, even tempered, enduring, practical, and wise.
Ken Harding passed away on the morning of April 19, 2024, at the age of 98, surrounded by loved ones. A devoted family man, Ken was born in Sioux City, Iowa on December 12, 1925. He was the adopted and only child of George and Grace Harding.
Upon graduating from high school during World War II, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp, and having tested high in mechanical aptitude, was sent to the North American Aviation factory school in California. After training, he served as a Crew Chief/Flight Engineer for a variety of aircraft, but primarily for the B-25 Mitchell Bomber.
After the war, Ken attended the University of Nebraska on the GI Bill and graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The son of a water well driller, he studied geology and paleontology. While at university, as a walk-on and with no prior training, he became a four-year letterman in gymnastics.
After securing a job as an Exploration Geologist with The Texas Company, later known as Texaco, Ken and Rosa Lee moved to Casper, Wyoming and started a family. This was the beginning of his 26year career with Texaco and a working tour of the Rocky Mountain states that moved his family between Colorado, North Dakota, and Montana. Ken and family eventually settled in Houston, Texas where he became a Pathfinder for the Eastern Hemisphere Division of Texaco. Later in his career, Ken managed domestic exploration for other major oil & gas companies and independents, focusing on the Gulf States, offshore, and South Texas. He was an Emeritus Member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and in retirement he liked giving talks on his profession and travels.
Ken leaves behind his loyal dog Meigo, and four children: son Alan Harding and wife Karen, Sugar Land TX; son Scott Harding, Sugar Land, TX; daughter Jill Goodson and husband Pat, Dripping Springs, TX; son Steve Harding and wife, Tammy, Tampa, FL; grandchildren: Matthew Harding and wife Jessica, Reina McBride and husband Charlie, and step-grandchildren: Dan Broughton and wife Julie and Andy Broughton; as well as four great grandchildren: Mercy Harding, soon to be born “Baby boy” McBride, and McKenna and Courtney Fletcher. Additionally, he leaves one nephew and three nieces and their many progeny of the late Dr. August Gauchat and wife Gussie of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Ken was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years Rosa Lee, birth mother Helen Benson, whom he found at the age of 65, dear friend Colleen Rader, and daughter-in-law Marta Zuniga-Harding.
A gathering of family and friends in celebration and remembrance of Ken’s life will be held sometime in mid-June. At a future date, Ken’s and Rosa Lee’s ashes will be interned together at Lafayette Cemetery in Nemaha County Nebraska.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to any of the following: Houston Area Parkinson Society, 2700 Southwest Freeway, Suite 300, Houston TX 77089, www.haps.org; the “Martha Zuniga-Harding Memorial Endowed Scholarship” at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Foundation, Division of Institutional Advancement, 701 E. Expressway 83, Box #13, McAllen, TX 78501; or Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, www.komen.org/ donation