My dad was born in August of 1913 in Butte, Montana where his dad was working in the mines. He was the fourth of nine children, seven boys and two girls. 

The family moved from Butte to Cumberland, Washington, and then to Aberdeen, Washington where he finished high school. During the years in Aberdeen, he lived an adventurous life exploring, fishing, hunting for arrowheads, and generally living a great boy life outdoors.

Sometime in his later grade-school years he learned to play the violin and while in high school he played professionally around Aberdeen, including for the Saturday dances at the Finnish Hall. Also, at that time his talent was recognized and he was able to take lessons at the Cornish School in Seattle. To get there he would pack a lunch and his violin and hitchhike the 109 miles, take his lesson, and then hitchhike back home. While at the school his teacher gave him a better violin that he played throughout his life. That was the beginning of his lifelong musical career.

After high school he enrolled in Central Washington College, where he got a degree in education. When he arrived in Ellensburg, he got a job cleaning a speakeasy bar and slept in the storage area. When the school found out where he was working, they told him he had to quit so he moved into a dorm with a friend and snuck in and out since he didn’t pay the school.

While there he gave private violin lessons in Ellensburg and Yakima, Washington. In Yakima he had a student named Rosemary Duckham, and over the course he met Rosemary’s sister Kathryn. They fell in love and as they say the rest is history. They took the train to Seattle where they married. After paying the judge and dad’s brother for being his best man, they got back on the train to Yakima. They only had one dollar left to their name. 

Dad was still in college when they married so they rented a little house in Ellensburg. While he studied and worked odd jobs, my mom did his homework so by rights, she should have received the degree. At the same time his brother Garnet visited and didn’t leave, so my mom told him to go to school or go home so he got his education there also.

To be continued…

Ken Kaiyala
10-19-2023