Joseph King Obituary

Joseph (Joe) Elwood King of Lawrence, KS, passed away on August 19, 2016 after being diagnosed with a rare and untreatable carcinoma. Joe was born on August 24, 1947 and grew up on the third generation family farm in rural Potwin, Kansas, with his chores tending livestock and fields. He was the middle child, and only son, of Elwood Chase King and Nola Neuman King. He married Lucille (Cille) Carol Resnik on May 31, 1969.

Joe attended Potwin schools and graduated from Frederick Remington High. He earned Robert Mann and AIA scholarships to attend Kansas University (KU) School of Architecture, general KU Funds and a Navy ROTC scholarship. He earned the Goldsmith Award, Davis Award, A.I.A. Certificate of Merit, Alpha Rho Chi Medal, and Reserve Officer's Association Medal during his college career, was a member of Honor Societies,Tau Sigma Delta, and Tau Beta Ri, Scarab, and social fraternity Alpha Tau Omega. His summers were occupied with midshipman training programs, work for Mann & Co, Hutchinson, Lawrence Construction Co, Kansas State Historical Society, and he worked for Architectural Services at KU during the school year. He graduated second in his 1970 BA Architecture class.

After his commission as a Navy Officer, he served as Communications Officer and maintained classified cryptographic material aboard the heavy repair ship, Ajax. Initially in San Diego, the ship was deployed in June 1971 for the western Pacific, Sasebo, Japan and Vietnam. In April 1972, he was assigned as Assistant Operational Intelligence Officer on the Iceland Defense Force Staff, in Keflavik, Iceland. During his 27 months in Iceland, he worked with intelligence information about Soviet air operations in the North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea. He also served as Political Intelligence Officer during a critical period in Icelandic – U.S. Relations. He developed a valuable intelligence briefing for which he was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal.

After returning to the United States in 1974 as a civilian, he worked for Carmichael and Associates, P.A., Wichita, KS, progressing from Junior Draftsman to Project Architect. He passed the Architectural Licensing Exam in his first attempt in 1977. He left the firm in April 1978 with the goal of becoming more involved in solar energy and would work the rest of his career to promote renewable energy and a sustainable environment.

Joe started work the next month as the solar programs coordinator in the Kansas Energy Office. A year later, Governor John Carlin, appointed him the director of the office – a cabinet level position. He shepherded energy conservation programs and expanded use of renewable energy resources. He resigned in January 1981 when the office and programs were being dismantled.

Joe then worked independently and collaboratively: with Sunflower Power (Steve Blake) and completed projects with the Corps of Engineers; Williams, Huber, and King, P.A; King/ (Mike) Vieux, designed and built the only commercial building in Kansas to qualify for the Federal Passive Solar tax credits.

Joe and Mark Hannifan worked together on projects as Hannifan & King, DynCorp with Coriolis, (Joe's individual consulting enterprise), and New West Technologies with Coriolis. Hannifan & King evaluated and installed energy efficient lighting and data acquisition systems to document building performance for the Kansas Corporation Commission headquarters. They co-authored Geothermal Heat Pump Manual (1987) for the Edison Electric Institute. They co-authored Building for the Future: A Guide to Residential Energy Efficiency (1993), Ground Source Heat Pump Manual (1995), and Kansas Wind Power Assessment (1994-1999) where they conducted a multi-year assessment of the top 25 wind farm sites in Kansas, including a detailed investigation of wind resources, power production modeling, and wind farm design and layout, all for the Kansas Electric Utility Research Program.

Joe, Mark, J Hutton, and Richard Nelson co-authored Kansas Biopower Assessment – Feasibility of Electric Power Derived from biomass and Waste Feedstocks (1996-1998), and assessed the feasibility of co-firing herbaceous and woody crops – instead of coal - in coal-fired power plants in Kansas. Joe developed the Kansas Wind Resource Map for the Kansas Corporation Commission. He designed an energy efficient home in east Lawrence which won the 2007 Technical Innovation Award from the American Concrete Institute. He did extensive analysis for a wind farm in southwest Kansas. As a partner in Tatanka Resources , he provided "foot printing" analyses about the aggregation and trading of carbon sequestration assets from forestry and agriculture.

Joe had a life-long love of the outdoors and the natural world. He was a "Wood Badge" member of Boy Scout Troop 59 and Venture Crew 2052, and a district committee and training team member. Joe served on the Camp Bromelsick Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of the Kansas Natural Resource Council. He was an active member of the League of Women Voters. He maintained decades long friendships from high school, college, military, business, scouting, and outdoor interests, and was a devoted father and husband. He is missed.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents. Survivors include his wife Cille, of the home, son Zachary Daniel King, Lawrence, daughter Alison Elinor King, Ann Arbor, Michigan; two sisters, Sarah Couch of Lawrence, Christine King of rural Potwin, and several cousins.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Camp Bromelsick Foundation Inc, PO Box B, Lawrence, KS 66044; Kansas Rural Center, 4021 SW 10th St, Topeka, KS 66604, or the League of Women Voters (LWV-LDC) , PO Box 1072, Lawrence, KS 66044-1072.

A celebration of life will be held on October 2, 2016 in Lawrence.