Longtime Talkeetna resident/troublemaker, best friend, beloved father, and husband Louis Kenneth “Kenny” Farina, 71, passed away peacefully on September 17th, 2022 while receiving hospice for cancer.
Ken was born on January 22, 1951, in Queens, New York to Carmela Farina (née Carbonaro), and Louis Farina. He had one older sister, Carol, and many many cousins.
One of approximately 900 men named Louis in a large Italian family, he started going by Kenny at a young age. During childhood, he was occasionally known as Ken Farinawitz in order to evade the truant officers when skipping school with his Jewish friends.
After graduating high school Ken worked photo typesetter for a commercial arts company in Manhattan. Ken moved to Talkeetna in 1976, following several close friends from New York. During his first year in Alaska, he lived with Johnny Rowland in a Visqueen tent, surviving on beans, rice, moose, pasta, and beer.
During his early years in Talkeetna, Ken was a farmhand on Lichtenwalner Farm, a bartender at the Fairview, and the town milkman. In 1979 he started working on the North Slope for VECO (later CH2M Hill). He also spent a year working for Irby, installing the industrial power lines that now run from Anchorage to Fairbanks. In either 1976 or ‘77 (no one is quite sure), he started serving Talkeetna as a volunteer with the fire department.
On a cold winter night in January 1980, Ken and several other men gathered at the Fairview to discuss the shallow dating pool in Talkeetna. One mentioned the Bachelor Societies of England, and the Talkeetna Bachelor Society and Bachelor Ball were created. At the first Bachelor Auction in 1981, Ken was auctioned off for [redacted] to [redacted].
In 1983 he met Mary Baar when she hit his truck in front of the Fairview. Mary tracked Ken down to apologize, he told her that she had nice elbows, and the rest is history.
In 1984 Ken and Mary were married in a wedding that looked like it was from 1976, since the 70s came to Talkeetna ten years late. One of the conditions Mary had for marrying Ken was that he install an actual front door on his cabin (instead of the piece of carpet that was covering the doorway).
In 1986 Ken and Mary welcomed their oldest child, Ann, followed by their second child, Matthew in 1989. After his children flew the coop Ken (and Mary) replaced them with a series of increasingly insane Spaniels.
Ken played catcher with the Mandingos for many years, until June 1987 when he suffered a career-ending injury sliding into 3rd base.
Ken continued to serve with the fire department. He was promoted to fire chief in 1994 and later to district chief. He retired from the fire department on April 1, 2015, after 35+ years of service. He retired from CH2M Hill in January 2016. Upon retirement, he promptly returned to his 1970s self and smoked the largest blunt he could find.
In retirement Ken found fulfillment in spending time with Mary, tending to his garden, trying to outsmart the moose who kept eating his garden, playing poker, drinking coffee with friends, and going on “boy’s trips” to Vegas.
Ken is survived by his wife of 38 years, Mary Farina of Talkeetna, AK; his offspring, Ann Farina of Washington and Matt Farina (Carolyn) of Alaska; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and drinking/smoking/poker buddies.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents, sister Carol Farina, and at least a couple of people he beat at poker.
A celebration of life/ice cream social will be held at the Talkeetna Fire Hall in Talkeetna, AK in July 2023.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Ken’s name to the Talkeetna Volunteer Fire Department.
The Farina family would like to extend their gratitude to the Sunshine Community Health Clinic (especially Layla, Ryan, and Janelle), the staff of Mat-Su Wound Care, the staff of Midnight Sun Oncology, and the nurses, doctors, and other care providers who cared for Ken in the last week of his life.
