Watergate figure. Kenneth H. Dahlberg, aviator, entrepreneur and patriot, passed away at age 94. Ken grew up on a 120-acre farm near Wilson, Wisconsin. While the Federal Land Bank was busy foreclosing on the family farm, Ken graduated from Harding High School in 1935 and went to work washing pots and pans in the Lowry Hotel in St. Paul. Promotions came fast and furious and so did a draft notice from President Roosevelt.

On June 2, 1944, four days before D-Day, Ken arrived in England to join the 354th Fighter Group flying P-51 Mustangs to support the invasion. Flying from steel mats hastily laid down above Omaha Beach, Ken became a rare Triple Ace by amassing 15 air-to-air victories over the Luftwaffe in both Mustangs and Thunderbolts. He was shot down three times beyond enemy lines, escaped twice and sat out the last few months of the war as a POW in Stalag 7-A in Moosburg, a suburb of Munich. Ken called it his "first experience in suburban living." While a POW, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Returning to the Twin Cities after the war, he married Betty Jayne Segerstrom and completed the "Greatest Generation" arc by founding the Miracle Ear Hearing Aid Company. For 64 years, he brought his keen insights to many companies, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Envoy Medical, and his venture capital firm Carefree Capital. He was a Shriner and received an honorary doctorate from Hamline University. Inducted into both the Minnesota and Arizona Aviation Halls of Fame, he continued flying into his 90s. Ken befriended presidents and generals but still was as interested in the honor and dignity of the person washing pots and pans in the hotel kitchen.

In addition to his wife of 64 years, Ken is survived by his daughters Nancy Dahlberg and Dede Disbrow, his son K. Jeffrey (Michelle), his brother Arnold, sisters Marcella Savage and Harriet Dolny (Lenny) and sister-in-law Betty Dahlberg, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

--The Arizona Republic 9 Oct 2011