Raymond Kenneth "Ken" Eastlack

Raymond Kenneth “Ken” Eastlack was born June 10, 1926 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, to Raymond and Martha Eastlack, and passed away on November 1st, 2026.

At an early age, Ken learned the value of hard work. Around the age of ten, he started his own service collecting glass and metals for recycling, pulling his wagon through the hilly streets of his neighborhood. As a high school student, he delivered newspapers early in the morning, worked nights in local factories, and still found time to letter in baseball and football. That combination of grit, energy, and drive would become one of the defining patterns of his life.

During World War II, Ken answered the call to serve his country in the United States Navy. He entered the Navy in 1944 and was honorably discharged in 1946. Trained as a gunner and mechanic on a B-24 Privateer configured for anti-submarine warfare, Ken attended Navy schools in San Diego, Oklahoma, and Florida. Though the war ended before he was deployed, his service remains part of the great national effort of the World War II generation.

Returning to Conshohocken, Ken found factory work and soon met the love of his life, Jeanne Agnes Malaspina. Spotting Jeanne while driving through town, he stopped to introduce himself and quickly fell head over heels. The two married in January 1948 and, immediately after their wedding, drove to Kansas City, Kansas, where Ken attended plumbing school and earned his plumbing license. By 1949, back in Conshohocken, they began building their life together.

And build it, they did! Ken and Jeanne welcomed two sons, Raymond and James. Ken continued to expand his skills, learning heating system installation and repair before becoming self-employed. Over the years, he owned and operated successful businesses in residential home heating oil delivery; heating systems repair; plumbing; and new home construction subcontracting.

In 1954, Ken built the family house himself using hand tools. Over the next three decades, he completed several expansions and upgrades, creating not only a house, but a home filled with love, purpose, and family memories.

Ken and Jeanne shared 68 wonderful years of marriage before her passing. During their child-rearing years, Ken and Jeanne took the family on cherished annual vacations to Canada, where they enjoyed fishing and rustic cabin living on the French River in Ontario. Their life together was marked by hard work, adventure, friendship, and motion. They round danced, fished, skied, golfed, traveled, and gathered with family and friends.

Ken retired in 1988 after decades of long hours, skilled work, and dedication to providing for his family, but retirement never meant slowing down. He and Jeanne moved to Delaware, where they lived in a home on the water and Ken pursued his passion for fishing from his 22-foot, dual-outboard-motor boat, catching multiple species in the Atlantic Ocean and crabbing in Rehoboth Bay. In winter, they traveled to New England to downhill ski with family. Over the years, they explored Europe, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and much of the United States while visiting their children.

In 2002, Ken and Jeanne relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, where they joined golf and bowling clubs and continued to enjoy an active social life. Ken played two rounds of golf per week until 2019, an extraordinary testament to his vitality, discipline, and love of the game.

In every chapter of his life, Ken has been known as warm, friendly, and well liked, with many friends and meaningful associations. A lifelong believer in wholesome nutrition and fitness, he continued until death to monitor his weight, and his daily exercise regime included walker-supported air squats. He relished visits from extended family and friends, watched golf tournaments, baseball, and NFL games, and looked forward to regular competitive games of Rummikub.

Ken's century of life was a testament to service, perseverance, resourcefulness, devotion to family, and the joy that comes from staying active, curious, and engaged. Through hard work, love, and an enduring spirit, Ken built a legacy that inspired all who knew him.

Ken was predeceased by his beloved wife Jeanne, and parents Raymond and Martha Eastlack.

Surviving Ken are his sons Raymond (Joan) and James (Joan); brother Wilbur; sister Marian (Bob) Miller; six grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.