Kenneth G. Tondreau
Kenneth George Tondreau, age 82, of Great Falls, VA, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 19th , 2019 with his family present. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Donna, son Michael with wife Sandra, granddaughters Jessica and Elizabeth, daughter Michelle with husband Chris and grandson Corwin.
Ken was the only child of Louis E and Clara Tondreau. Ken grew up in Swampscott, MA, where he attended Swampscott High School, prep school at Kimball Union academy in Meriden, NH, and college at Tufts University where he earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Ken was an avid hockey goalie in High School and College and then semi-professionally after that. He was a Small College All-American goalie. Ken was inducted in the Swampscott High School Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
After College, Ken chose to forgo a professional hockey contract with the Providence Reds in the American Hockey League and started working for the US Navy at the Boston Naval Shipyard and was loaned to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to work on the loss of the Thresher submarine. Ken transferred to Washington, DC, to work for NAVSEA in 1966 on deep submergence systems. Ken continued to work on submarine systems including the Escape and Rescue Systems, McCann Rescue Chambers, and Deep Research Vehicles like Alvin, Turtle, Sea Cliff, and Trieste. Ken even dove to 6,000 feet in Alvin. His final project working for the US Navy was on submarine SEAL delivery systems. Ken spent a total of 34 years working for the US Navy before joining Perot Systems and then Ocean Engineering as a consultant.
Ken loved his sports like tennis, baseball, golf, hiking and of course hockey. Ken coached several of his kid's soccer and t-ball teams. Ken loved animals, especially his black Labrador retrievers that he would take for endless walks in Great Falls Park and Bethany Beach, DE, with his wife.
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Ken was the only child of Louis E and Clara Tondreau. Ken grew up in Swampscott, MA, where he attended Swampscott High School, prep school at Kimball Union academy in Meriden, NH, and college at Tufts University where he earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Ken was an avid hockey goalie in High School and College and then semi-professionally after that. He was a Small College All-American goalie. Ken was inducted in the Swampscott High School Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.
After College, Ken chose to forgo a professional hockey contract with the Providence Reds in the American Hockey League and started working for the US Navy at the Boston Naval Shipyard and was loaned to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to work on the loss of the Thresher submarine. Ken transferred to Washington, DC, to work for NAVSEA in 1966 on deep submergence systems. Ken continued to work on submarine systems including the Escape and Rescue Systems, McCann Rescue Chambers, and Deep Research Vehicles like Alvin, Turtle, Sea Cliff, and Trieste. Ken even dove to 6,000 feet in Alvin. His final project working for the US Navy was on submarine SEAL delivery systems. Ken spent a total of 34 years working for the US Navy before joining Perot Systems and then Ocean Engineering as a consultant.
Ken loved his sports like tennis, baseball, golf, hiking and of course hockey. Ken coached several of his kid's soccer and t-ball teams. Ken loved animals, especially his black Labrador retrievers that he would take for endless walks in Great Falls Park and Bethany Beach, DE, with his wife.
