PLYMOUTH, Mass. – Kenneth E. Legins “Ken”, 70, died on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, at the Tufts Medical Center, Boston, from complications due to a stem cell transplant for leukemia. He was born July 10, 1943, in Nanticoke, Pa., to Agno and Jean Legins.
He was the devoted husband of Barbara A. (Dzialdowski) Legins. Loving father of Kenneth Legins Jr. and his partner, Brad Stein, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Keith Legins and his wife, Sarah, of Princeton Junction, N.J. He is survived by his grandchildren, Thea and Sylvie Legins; siblings, Norman Legins of Miami, and Patricia Fairbank of Old Saybrook, Conn.; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends.
Ken was a starter on the Nanticoke high school basketball team all four years, helping them win the 1961 State Championship, and played on Pennsylvania’s Big 15 basketball team. He accepted a scholarship from George Washington University and graduated in 1966 where he was captain and named All-Southern Conference his senior year. Ken was a teacher and coach in Maine and Virginia until 1982 and was named Coach of the Year in Virginia in 1972. In 2012, Ken was inducted into the Luzerne County, Pa., Sports Hall of Fame. He retired as vice president at Abitibi Bowater Paper Company in 2008.
Ken and Barbara spent 47 years together in marriage and love. They met each other at Nanticoke State Street Elementary School, joking about Polkas their parents danced to. They raised their children in Millinocket, built a camp on South Twin Lake and taught their children to be adventurers. Ken was a loving father to his children and grandchildren and found great purpose in supporting and ensuring their health and happiness. He loved to fly fish on the West Branch with his hand-tied Hornbergs and tell stories of the salmon he released to catch again another day. He shared a passion for boating on the lakes and coast of Maine with family and friends, driving and fishing adventures with Barbara in Europe and New Zealand and sitting on the camp porch to watch loons fish.
A visitation will be held 5-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at Stanley S. Stegura Funeral Home, 614 S. Hanover St., Nanticoke, Pa. A Mass will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at St. Faustina Catholic Church, 520 S. Hanover St., Nanticoke, Pa. Burial will take place at Oak Lawn Cemetery, Hanover Township, Pa. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in the memory of Kenneth Legins to the Bangor Ronald McDonald House, where he was a member of the Board in the 1980s, 654 State St., Bangor, ME 04401, www.rmhbangor.org/make-donation; or to the Atlantic Salmon Federation, www.asfus.thankyou4caring.org, which works to save ‘the most difficult fish to catch, and a thrill to play,’ P.O. Box 807, Calais, ME 04619. For more info and online guest book please visit www.cartmellfuneralhome.com.
Kenneth E. Legins ‘Ken’
