Home > People > K Surnames of Allen County, Indiana
Allen County, Indiana People
K Surnames
Kaboo, Prince
“Sammy”, as he was called, was born a prince in 1873, the son of a chief of the Kroo tribe in Liberia. He was in Fort Wayne only a short time when he contracted a cold in January, 1893 which turned into pneumonia and he died on May 12, age 20, at St. Joseph Hospital. He was buried in Section 14 Jordan Crossing in Lindenwood Cemetery. Read more on our Samuel Morris page.
Born on December 3, 1954, in Fort Wayne, he died on February 10, 2017, age 62, in Fort Wayne. See his February 10, 2107 D.O. McComb and Sons obituary. His death was posted February 13, 2017 on WhatZUp on Facebook.
July 3, 1930 – October 24, 2019, was born to William G. and Esther (Centlivre) Keane. He was nominated to be Director of the Bureau of the Census
on November 16, 1983 by Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States: 1981 ‐ 1989. He received an AB from Syracuse University in 1952; a BS from the University of Notre Dame, in 1955; an MBA from Indiana University in 1956; and a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1965. Between 1966 and 1968, he advanced from director of research services to account supervisor and vice president at North Advertising, Inc., in Chicago, Illinois. From 1968 to 1972, he was vice president of research and planning for J.W. Walter Thompson of Chicago. From 1972 to 1983, he was president of Manage Change, Inc. in Barrington, Illinois. From 1984 to 1989, he was director of the Bureau of the Census. In 1989, he became dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame. Copied from Keane, John Gorman, 1930- Person Authority Record at the The National Archives in their Catalog. John G. Keane is On the C-SPAN Networks: with two videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first appearance was a 1985 Forumand the second was 1986 program. The United States Census Bureau has his photo with detailed biography and an Interview conducted on December 28, 1988.
47, born in 1870 Scranton, Pennsylvania, owner of hotel death, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, obituary in April 14, 1918 The News-Sentinel newspaper. Six children: James, Bert, Walter, Fred, Ruth, and Grace.
Started out his career as a car salesman in 1964 when he left his life as a humble farmer, and went to work for his brother Jim. See video and story End Of An Era: Award Winning Car Salesman Retiring After 50 Years by Ian Hoover and Kent Hormann published December 5, 2014 in Fort Wayne's NBC-33 television station.
Kelly, Francis James Kelly - Kelly the Clown
Born on March 26, 1926 in Yonkers, NY, Frank was the son of the late Harry and Catherine Kelly. He was a WWII Army veteran. Age 90, he passed away March 5, 2017. His children, Tim (Cheryl) Kelly of Yoder, Chuck (Diana) Kelly of Fort Wayne, Dan (Judy) Kelly of Lansing, MI, Anne Kelly of Fort Wayne; 14 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. Frank was preceded in death by his wife Bernadette in 2011. See his March 5, 2017 D.O. McComb and Sons obituary.
Keltsch, Carl
The Keltsch Pharmacy names was Fort Wayne neighborhood fixtures for more than seven decades. Maurice Keltsch died at 89 in 2016. Maurice Keltsch and his late brother, Donald Keltsch, took over a business that was started in 1924 by their father, Carl Keltsch. It remained a single drugstore until 1959 when it was incorporated. The business had as many as 17 stores at its peak in 1989 and was the largest independent drugstore chain in Indiana at one time. Maurice Keltsch retired in 1993 after 43 years with the business, which later located inside several area Scott’s supermarkets. Copied from Maurice Keltsch dies at 89; owned drugstore chain by Rosa Salter Rodriquez published August 22, 2016 in The Journal Gazette newspaper .
Kelsey, Monica
State Representative Dave Heine, on behalf of Governor Holcomb, surprised Kelsey by presenting the Sagamore of the...
State Representative Dave Heine, on behalf of Governor Holcomb, surprised Kelsey by presenting the Sagamore of the Wabash at the organization’s headquarters in Woodburn on Wednesday.
1924-1992 - Don joined his dad in the pharmacy business in 1948 at his store at the corner of Wells and Third streets, and in 1950 his brother Maurice, also a pharmacist, joined the business. Forming the company Keltsch Bros., Inc., in 1960, they opened a second drugstore on West State Boulevard, and continued to expand to 18 modern stores, two clinics, and a gift store across scattered across six northeast Indiana communities. Don’s son Richard later became CEO and continued to build the company until selling it to the Scott’s Food Stores division of Supervalu in 1998.
Keltsch, Maurice
Maurice Keltsch was preceded in death by his wife, Betty I. Keltsch. He [wa]s survived by his sisters Ruth Cole of Studio City, California, and Mildred Franke of Fort Wayne. He also is survived by three daughters Sara (Dan Thue) Keltsch of Fort Wayne; Molly (Dana Leininger) Keltsch of Fort Myers Beach, Florida, and Amanda (Scott) Senger of Fort Wayne, and the Sengers’ daughters, Sydney and Shelby Seng. Copied from Maurice Keltsch dies at 89; owned drugstore chain by Rosa Salter Rodriquez published August 22, 2016 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
Keltsch, Richard
Richard Rick M. Keltsch, 64, died unexpectedly Wednesday, March 23, 2011. Born Sept. 1, 1946, he was President and CEO with Keltsch Bros. Pharmacy, a regional pharmacy chain. during his tenure as President of Keltsch Bros. ... He [wa]s survived by his wife of 32 years, Jennie Keltsch; son, Mike (Nicole) Keltsch of San Ramone, Calif.; daughter, Kriss (Olivier) LaComme of France; stepson, Chad (Amanda) Lewton of Round Rock, Texas; brother, Steve (Ann) Keltsch of Detroit, Mich.; sisters, Karen (Rod) Butler and Susan (Rod) Hoffman, both of Fort Wayne; stepbrother, Glen (Kim) Wight of Warsaw; stepsisters, Linda (Tim) Harmon of Granger and Wendy Wight of Fort Wayne; stepmother, Jane Keltsch of Fort Wayne; mother-in-law, Gloria Byerley of Fort Wayne; and 10 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jean and Don Keltsch. Copied from his March 25, 2011 D.O. McComb and Sons obituary published in the Fort Wayne Newspapers.
Kennedy, Bob
His mother was the longest-serving Fort Wayne city clerk, serving from 1983 until October 2015. Director of public works, 2007-17; associate director of public works/City Utilities, 2002-07; street commissioner, 2000-02; street department accounting and purchasing, 1996-2000; street department, 1985-96. See Kennedy moving on down road After 3 decades with city, head of Public Works starts new career by Dave Gong published November 5, 2017 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
Keoun, Craig
Died in 2014, was a community leader and volunteer for the Heritage Trail Foundation, Real Men Read, the YMCA and more.
Kerr, Hugh
Born June 28, 1811, Married Nancy McConahey October 15, 1842 in County Antrim, Ireland. See Hugh Kerr.
Kettler, Ed
Ed Kettler, died Friday June 3, 2011, was a Fort Wayne business owner, civic leader, Republican fundraiser, member of the Memorial Coliseum’s board of trustees, was on the IPFW Foundation board, IU Bloomington’s board of trustees and Fort Wayne Civic Theatre’s board of directors. He received the Sagamore of the Wabash award from the governor, the Distinguished Alumni Service award from Indiana University and the Distinguished Alumni award from South Side High School. Letter to Editor in Journal-Gazette "Web letter: A dad’s vision made IPFW possible" explains connection with IPFW - Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne.
Anyone interested in the family of Kinder of Allen County can contact Rev. Claude F. Kinder. My data base has over 44,000 names in it with thousands of documents and pictures. There are names such as Pequignot, Wellman, Heckbur (Heckboure) Smith, Hoffman, Kirkhoff, Cavalier, Christman(n), Miller and many more. Please feel free to contact me at claudekinder@gmail.com with your questions. Regards,
Pastor Claude F. Kinder from a July 21, 2013 email.
King Jr., Martin Luther
"On June 5, 1963, Dr. King visited Fort Wayne and spoke before a crowd of more than 2,000 at the Scottish Rite Auditorium. He talked about his nonviolent strategies to end racial discrimination in the South and improve conditions for African Americans in the United States. The next day, The Journal Gazette reported that 'several hundred...had to be turned away for lack of room.'" from City of Fort Wayne SOARING TRIBUTE, STUNNING GATEWAY HONORS DR. KING, SENDS WELCOMING MESSAGE TO ALL.
On June 5, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to Hoosiers at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Fort Wayne. During his speech, Dr. King advocated for Civil Rights, the advancement of Black communities in America, and rallied against segregation. This speech preludes Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream,” speech which was delivered in Washington, D.C. just two months later on August 28.
On June 5, 2023, 60 years after Dr. King’s visit, the Fort Wayne Public Art Commission dedicated the Pillars of Hope and Justice monument in commemoration of the event.
Interested in learning more about Dr. King’s visit to Ft. Wayne? Check out the book Before the Dream: Martin Luther King’s 1963 Speech, and Civil Rights Struggles in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Teacher’s book explores 1963 MLK visit to Fort Wayne/
Martin Luther King III spoke at the Pillars of Hope and Justice monument dedication ceremony this evening. The monument...
Martin Luther King III spoke at the Pillars of Hope and Justice monument dedication ceremony this evening. The monument commemorates a June 5, 1963 speech given in Fort Wayne by his father Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today marks the 60th anniversary of the speech. Mr. King also spoke at the 60th anniversary celebration this evening on the stage of the former Scottish Rite Auditorium, the same stage his father spoke on 60 years ago. Rev, Bill McGill recited Dr. King’s historic speech during the celebration.
King, Stephen Edwin
Indiana ancestry is discussed, but Fort Wayne is not mentioned in Finding Your Roots S02e01 Stephen King posted Nov 6, 2020 by Anthony Kamm on YouTube.
Anthony Kamm comments: This is taken from the TV program Finding your Roots Season 2 Episode 1. This was hard to find. I edited out everything except for Mr. King's material. The only part missing is about the DNA.
The famous story teller and author lived in Fort Wayne briefly in the 1950's during his early childhood before age eleven where his father's family lived according to the third sentence on his web site StephenKing.com [accessed September 2, 2022] it states: Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. The page starts with Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King.
3-year-old Stephen King does not appear in the Allen County Census, 1950. [A different 8-year-old Stephen M. King son of Walter and Lillian King is in the 1950 census].
His father was born Donald Edwin PollockMarch 11, 1914 in Peru, Miami County, Indiana, no one is sure when or why he changed his surname to King. When King was two years old, his father left the family under the pretense of going to buy a pack of cigarettes, leaving his mother to raise King and his adopted older brother, David, by herself, sometimes under great financial strain. The family moved to De Pere, Wisconsin, Fort Wayne, Indiana and Stratford, Connecticut. His family research aired September 23, 2014 in the PBS program Finding Your Roots. See a 2 minute trailer Stephen King's Progressive Past from the Season 2 Episode 1 In Search of Our Fathers. Donald Edwin King on Find A Grave
Namesake of Kinzie Street in Chicago. He was in 1790s Miamitown, now Fort Wayne, before moving to Chicago by 1804. Read his story A piece of Indiana in Chicago
Chicago ‘father’ Kinzie lived here by Tom Castaldi for Fort Wayne Magazine
published December 28th, 2015.
It’s Mortarboard Monday! In honor of graduation season, we’re sharing biographies from the 1894 Central Grammar School class in Fort Wayne to see where their paths took them after graduation.
Did you know our yearbook collection is searchable in our catalog? Start exploring here: https://acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/. Some are available to view digitally!
Elmer F. Knepper was born in 1872 in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Noah Knepper and Emeline Clark. Noah worked in farming to support his family. Elmer graduated from the Central Grammar School in Fort Wayne in 1894.
In 1896, he married Mahala May Thompson. The couple had 4 children. Following in his father’s footsteps, Elmer was a farmer. In their later years, the couple spent time in Hillsborough County, Florida.
Elmer F. Knepper is buried with his wife Mahala at Oaklawn Cemetery in Plant City, Hillsborough County, Florida.
Find a Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 27 April 2023), memorial page for Elmer Francis Knepper (1872 - 1950), Find A Grave Memorial no. 103467588, citing Oaklawn Cemetery, Plant City, Florida; memorial page is created and maintained by contributor 103467588, Donna McPherson.
Find a Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 27 April 2023), memorial page for Mahala May Knepper (1877 - 1947), Find A Grave Memorial no. 30730576, citing Oaklawn Cemetery, Plant City, Florida; memorial page is created and maintained by contributor 103467588, Donna McPherson.
Knox, Tom
January 12, 1936 - March 30, 2018. His children were Carolyn Knox, Ronald (Karen) Knox, and Tomisha Knox; grandkids, Arin Knox-Hodges, Andrew Knox, Brandon Knox, and Austin Knox; 4 great-grandkids; and siblings, Elaine Day, Clarence Starks Jr, Alberta Dukes, and Gail (Larry) Starks. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Annabelle (Hatcher) Starks Sr.; brother, Gabriel D. Starks; and sister, Martha Ann Curry from his obituary at Klaehn, Fahl, & Melton Funeral Home. If you played, coached or watched sports around Fort Wayne from the 1960s until a few years ago, you saw Knox call a game. He officiated basketball, football and baseball, was a founding member of Metro Youth Sports and even spent a brief period officiating in the American Basketball Association. He was honored by the IHSAA for distinguished service in 1988. A native of Beckley, W.Va., Knox moved to Fort Wayne as a freshman and was an all-state football and basketball player at Fort Wayne Central High School. Copied from Longtime Fort Wayne referee Tom Knox will be remembered for his flair and his care by Reggie Hays published April 4, 2018 in The News-Sentinel newspaper. Spotlight on Tom Knox, a living legend by Jeanie Summerville published June 18, 2015 on Frost Illustrated now on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
FORT WAYNE - Norman Elliott Kramer, 74, of Fort Wayne, died Thursday in Lutheran Hospital.
A native of Tell City, he was a science teacher for 33 years and taught at Tell City, Decker, Bruceville and Shelbyville, as well as Lane Junior High and R. Nelson Snider High School in Fort Wayne. He was a World War II Marine veteran, had coached high school basketball for 25 years, and coached in the Connie Mack Summer Baseball League. He played professional baseball for six years and scouted for the Philadelphia Phillies for 33 years.
Mr. Kramer was a member of the First Baptist Church, and a member of the Fort Wayne and Indiana Baseball halls of fame.
Surviving are his wife, Maxine Ruth; a daughter, Kathleen Kay Liddy of Fort Wayne; a son, Stephen Allen Kramer of Kendallville; two brothers, Clarence McNeil "Mac" Kramer of Erlange, Ky., and the Rev. John Phillip Kramer of Plano, Texas; and two grandsons, Max Kramer and Carl Kramer, both of Kendallville.
He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Sarah Kramer, and a brother, Marion Miller Kramer.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in the First Baptist Church, 2323 Fairfield Ave. Burial will be in Greenlawn Memorial Park in Fort Wayne.
Visitation is from 2-5 and 7-9 p.m. today in D.O. McComb & Sons Lakeside Park Funeral Home, 1140 Lake Ave., and one hour before services at the church on Saturday.
Preferred memorials are to First Baptist Church, or Fort Wayne Rescue Mission, 301 W. Superior St., Fort Wayne 46802.
''If nothing else, they`re getting a good workout,'' said Trcka, 33, who has spent much of his adult life on the road in search of baseball talent. Wednesday`s was the third of seven similar camps he and his aides-Norm Kramer, a veteran of 24 years in the scouting business for the Phillies, and Lyons Township High School baseball coach Terry Sullivan-will run this summer. A handful of other organizations also run individual camps, but most teams-and most potential prospects-turn out for the larger gatherings, such as the recently conducted Major League Scouting Bureau camp at St. Xavier. Copied from DREAMERS FILL LINEUP AT TRYOUT CAMP by Linda Young, Chicago Tribune, June 28, 1991.
The Norm Kramer Service Award for 2017 shows the list since 1999 on page 49 of the 121 page Snider 2017 Back to Back SAC Champs shown below:
"The greatest pitcher Norm signed was Tom Underwood of Kokomo, who was in the majors from 1974-1984. Tom’s younger brother, Pat, made his major league debut as a pitcher against Tom, the only time that’s happened in baseball history." and A collection of sports memorabilia lines Steve Kramer’s basement walls, a tribute to a professional baseball player, scout and high school coach — his father. Kramer of Kendallville is the son of the late Norm Kramer, a Tell City native who was a standout in high school as a basketball and baseball player. “Dad was a man of quiet confidence — basically shy, but a motivator,” Steve said. “He was a jovial jock, a great storyteller with a sense of humor.” from Sports collection keeps dad’s memories alive by Terry Housholder June 13, 2021 on KPC.News and Sports collection keeps Dad’s memories alive on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
Norm Kramer was a Snider teacher who became a Midwest area scout for the Philadelphia Phillies. He signed recent Hall of Famer Scott Rolen to his first pro contract.
Page 18, MR. NORMAN E. KRAMER... Health ... B.S.— Butler University, M.S.—Indiana University .. . Outdoor Club, 8th Football, 9th Basketball in the 1971 Axe and Shield yearbook Chester T. Lane Junior High School.
Kranz, John
Photos of several paintings by John Krantz a local artist in the 1960s were posted August 22, 2018 on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook. He painted the backdrops at the original Diehm Museum and the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. He worked at Channel 21 when they used painted backdrops.
Was a retail coal merchant for over thirty years formerly with CF Krudop whom he bought out in 1890. He was born at Fort Wayne May 12, 1869 and held many offices in retail coal associations. See George H. Krudop Coal and Lumber Company shown with photos on page 66 in Volume 40 of the March 1922 The Retail Coalman on Google eBookbelow.
Born September 2, 1951 in San Antonio, Texas, he grew up in New Haven. See Wikipedia. In the 1980s and ’90s, after several Fort Wayne downtown floods, Kuhne designed Fort Wayne’s Headwaters Park. Kuhne credits the park in his becoming an internationally known architect. His London firm, CivicArts, has worked on multimillion-dollar public projects in places such as Kuwait, Dubai, Turkey and Sydney, Australia. Read more in Symposium features park architects, landscapersSeptember 16, 2012 by Rosa Salter Rodriguez of The Journal Gazette newspaper. Also read the story Where are they now? Success follows former area newsmakers to their new locales by the Editorial staff of The Journal Gazette January 6, 2013. As a boy, Eric Kuhne traveled the country with his Air Force father before settling in New Haven. Now he travels the world, designing magnificent buildings and cities that capture the spirit of the people who live there. He got his start designing Headwaters Park as a city architect under former Mayor Ivan Lebamoff and recently sat down with us to discuss his plans for expanding that downtown jewel and to play 20 Questions. Read the rest in 20 Questions by Bonnie Blackburn in Fort Wayne Magazine.
Release from house arrest in late 2010 as a dissident, is now a parliamentarian after five decades of repressive military rule. Myanmar (Burma) democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was honored in Washington D.C. and presented Congress's highest award in her remarkable journey from political prisoner to globe-trotting stateswoman. The Nobel Peace laureate's 17-day U.S. tour included meetings at the State Department and the White House. Then New York, the American Midwest including Fort Wayne, Indiana September 25, 2012 due to its large Burmese refugee population and California. Read more in Suu Kyi begins landmark US visit on FortWayne.com September 17, 2012 by Matthew Pennington of the Associated Press. See also Suu Kyi’s city visit predicted to be ‘history-making event’ September 16, 2012 by Rosa Salter Rodriguez of The Journal Gazette newspaper and Work on Suu Kyi visit under way Local Burmese, IPFW, Coliseum officials meet on FortWayne.com September 14, 2012 by Brian Francisco a Washington editor. Why Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is coming to the Midwest by Kyaw T. Soe for The News-Sentinel newspaper September 19, 2012. September 26, 2012 Journal Gazette page with several links to other stories the day after her September 25, 2012 appearance. Diverse crowd hears message by Frank Gray September 26, 2012 of the Journal Gazette.
