Kenneth Allen Bourne, Jr. '66 (1942-2025)

Ken entered Princeton in the class of of 1964, coming from Gilman School in Baltimore. He majored in English and was a member of Tower Club. Please see Ken's obituary here for more about his life and career after Princeton.

 

Nassau Herald

25th Reunion

Classmate Memories and Tributes

Sam Llyod '64:

Incredibly SAD. I roomed with Ken his first two years along with his friend Chip Towles. They were both great guys from Gilman and introduced me to many of their Baltimore buddies. I was a "high school Harry" and was wearing pegged pants and tie shoes when I first met them  They quickly informed me that for Princeton it is loafer and khakis. We spent many hours playing bridge and many of the contests got very competitive!
 
Late in sophomore year Ken would come to me for some help in typing his papers. I think he was an English major. These were last minute all night affairs!  He would dictate and I would type. You could imagine the product that was produced. In the am, after finishing what he had to say he would carry it over to the professor...many times late and sometimes tardy. I am sure he regretted those habits later and would have played it differently.
 
In his two year sabbatical from PU, he returned to his hometown of Baltimore. At the same time, I was a second year med student at Johns Hopkins. We would get together on occasion most often for sporting events. One horrifically hot summer afternoon, we went to see the Orioles and he preferred to sit in the highest seat available and at that time the O's were horrible so many places were available. Couldn't see much and really did not know the score because the consumption of beer blurred our senses. Still don't remember how we got home??
 
For employment during his gap years, I believe he was employed by Baker Bros. brokerage firm in Baltimore. After borrowing a few bucks of my tuition money, we decided to see if we could beat the market with some highflying stocks. This idea did not last long, I think only a few months and I was broke and had to go back to studying. Obviously, he did continue this type of investing after he graduated.
 

With fond memories of Ken and the great, great days we had at PU, I wish his family the very best and will pray for them in these difficult times!

 

Jerry Graff '64:

I’m very saddened to learn of Ken’s death. I always liked him at Tower and admired his warm nature and ready smile. Our entrance to the age 80s decade brings loss into our lives in growing numbers. In the last month I have lost a close friend and former physician colleague and the former president of my NJ high school class! In our senior year at Tower Ken shared the third floor (what was transformed into a dorm for dates) with VP Steve Beckwith while Hugh Manke as president and I, the treasurer, had a small suite on the second floor .... Ken left our class, I think, well into our senior year. I seem to remember him at Bicker meetings, but I don’t recall the circumstances of his withdrawal - academic? medical? I did not know anything of note about Ken’s PU experiences other than how warm, smiling and endearing he always seemed.

 

Stephen Beckwith '64:

It's very sad to hear the news about Ken. We were clubmates at Tower our junior year and were supposed to be roommates senior year since we were both club officers. However, Ken spent a bit too much time enjoying the social side of Princeton life. After spring exams his return to school was in doubt. I remember the two of us walking around campus for hours while he kept checking the bulletin board to see if he passed. Unfortunately, he didn't and had to take a year off. Without Ken I had the upper floor double room at Tower all to myself, most likely the largest single on campus. The next time I saw Ken was the spring of 1965 at houseparties weekend. I had dated Debby Bell my senior year and asked her to come down from NYC. During the weekend it was clear that Ken was taken with Debby and I gave him her phone number since I wasn't going to be in the NY area. I'm glad to have made the introduction to what became a long lasting marriage. FYI, Debby was the brother of Rick Bell '64.
 
My main recollection of Ken is his great sense of humor. He could keep a group in constant laughter with his quick wit and stories. He could have had a career as a talk show host.

 

Hugh Manke '64:

I have no anecdotes. Just remember him as an outgoing, friendly guy interested in what other people were saying, always wearing a happy face. Great sense of humor. No surprise that his peers chose him as Secretary of Tower Club.

 

Bill Mitchell:

Ken and I both ate at Tower club, and we both had rooms there during our last year, along with Jack Folts. He was a terrific person - smart, caring, a friend to all, always willing to help out in whatever needed to be done. We lost contact after graduation but I knew he had done great things in Baltimore. He and Debbie (now Deborah), were a delightful couple and it sounds like they had many years of marital bliss. 
 

Ken was a great guy. He will be missed.

 

David Franz '64:

Steve Beckwith has captured the essence of the Ken Bourne I knew – he always had a smile, and his wonderful sense of humor was infectious – he had a rare ability to make others (and himself) laugh. 

 

Jack Folts:

 

Ken and I were both officers of Tower Club senior year and lived at the club. As a result, we saw a lot of each other and became very good friends. Debbie was a regular presence as his date on party weekends.
 
After graduation, Ken went to work in Baltimore and I went to business school in Virginia. We assembled again In 1968 when Ken and Debbie were married in Philadelphia. We kept in touch, and 13 years later, when Cynthia and I were married in Connecticut, the Bournes were in attendance.
 
Ken was an accomplished businessman and a valuable contributor to his community. But he is often first remembered as a jokester and master storyteller. Ken’s campus reputation as such carried over into his later life and was validated regularly by, among other things, his annual master of ceremonies performance at the Elkridge Club Stag Night and Masters Calcutta. I’ve heard that described on several occasions as just about the funniest thing one has ever experienced.
 
I have many fond memories of Ken and one of his favorite pastimes, golf. In 2003 or thereabouts, Ken visited us in our winter home in Spring Island, South Carolina to play in a two-day member-guest golf tournament at one of our clubs, Chechessee Creek Club. Format was 36 holes, better ball (net) of two. It was a large field, and there were morning and afternoon sessions. Ken was able to refrain from entertaining our foursome often enough in the course of two days to contribute four net eagles in our 36 holes of competition. We had an uproariously good time,  and we won the overall event. I believe the format of the tournament was subsequently changed to minimize the chances of two bogey golfers such as us doing such a thing again.
 
Over the years, we’ve  made it a part of our 25-year long New York-South Carolina seasonal transition to meet  the Bournes on our way through Baltimore. What began as dinner with Ken and Debbie, became breakfast with Ken. And, regrettably, in recent years Ken has stopped responding altogether to our invitations.
 
Ken was all the good things, and then some, that fellow Princetonians have noted in their remembrances. 
God bless you, my friend

 

 

If you have photos or memories that you wish to share, please send them to the '66 Memorial Team (66_MemorialTeam@tiger1966.org). We will add them to this page.