Kenric William Hammond
June 23, 1947 – September 22, 2024
Kenric William Hammond, 77, of Tacoma, WA, passed away on September 22, 2024 after a 2.5 year battle with esophageal cancer. His final weeks were filled with visits from friends and family and the support of his hospice care team.
Ken was born on June 23, 1947 to George and Marian Hammond in Cambridge, MA. He was the oldest of five children. His childhood followed his father’s work, with time in Massachusetts, Iowa, England, and eventually Pasadena, CA. Ken was an Eagle Scout, french horn player, and award-winning artist. He played center halfback on the high school soccer team and, living in Southern California during the 1960s, inevitably took up surfing. Ken had an avid interest in science and undertook projects ranging from building a cloud chamber to raising the rats who inspired his short-lived but well-loved Godratta comic. The active mind and never-ending curiosity he displayed as a young person lasted throughout his life.
Ken received numerous academic honors in high school and was a National Merit Scholar. After graduating from The Polytechnic School in 1965, he majored in biochemistry at Harvard University where he met Deborah Singer in fall 1967. They married shortly after graduation in 1969. Together, they served in the Peace Corps in Senegal where Ken’s experience working with villagers to improve sanitation inspired his decision to study medicine. He graduated from medical school at the University of California at San Diego in 1974, and completed his residency in Toronto, Ontario.
In 1978, Ken moved to Redlands, CA and began a long career as a psychiatrist with the Veterans Administration, first in Loma Linda, then from 1988 through his retirement in 2013 at American Lake in Tacoma, WA. He believed that working to heal people who had been harmed by the ravages of war was a step towards righting wrongs. While living in Redlands, Ken and Deborah welcomed the birth of their children: David (1978) and Julie (1981). Ken was a loving and devoted father who always believed in his children’s potential. He was funny, engaged and creative, frequently helping with home science projects and consistently showing up for theater performances and music recitals.
Ken maintained an active interest in research and teaching throughout his career, publishing dozens of papers in medical informatics, presenting at conferences across the country, and advising postdoctoral research fellows. He was an early and eager computer user at home and in his work life. The invitation to present papers at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences sparked a tradition of winter work trips which evolved into post-retirement holidays for cycling, snorkeling, and visits with friends and family.
Ken’s marriage to Deborah ended in 1995. He met Mary Weatherley in 2002, and they married in a backyard ceremony, complete with a Senegalese drum parade, in Tacoma in 2009. They bonded over Steven Pinker and French language, and traveled together to Argentina, Spain, Vietnam, and Senegal, among many places. Mary’s support was instrumental to Ken’s comfort throughout his illness.
Ken was happiest in his garden, the fruits of which he used to prepare dinners for friends and family. His home fermentation led to a few excellent vintages of “Verger de la Ruelle” hard cider, perry, and hot sauce. Ken was an eager experimenter in the kitchen (his children will never forget blueberries in the stir fry), and he loved gathering over a meal and good wine. When asked why he ate so quickly, he honestly answered that it allowed him to “dominate the conversation” while others chewed. Ken had a life-long love for the outdoors and had many memorable trips: family backpacking through the Grand Canyon, biking beneath Comet Hale-Bopp with his children, a hike around Mt Rainier with his son David, and a ride with his sister Barbara from the bottom of England to the top of Scotland, among many others. Holiday gatherings often featured a family bridge table, and in his last few years he found great joy in regular gatherings with two local bridge groups. Ken was better at geography than almost anyone, and delighted in the idiosyncrasies of language. His imagination was unstoppable.
Ken was predeceased by his parents George and Marian and his sister Janet Glover. He is survived by his wife Mary, his step-mother Eve Menger-Hammond, siblings Steven Hammond, Barbara Bennett, and Jeremy Hammond, in-laws Judy Hammond and Janet Rapuano, his children David and Julie and their spouses Janet Hammond and David Chandler, step-son Peter Weatherley, grandchildren Frederic, Griffin, Kayla, and Sylvan, and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life will be held at the Mountaineers Tacoma Program Center on December 14, 2024 at 2:00 pm in Tacoma, WA. Donations in Ken’s memory may be made to NAMI Pierce County.