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Kenneth Ray Hook

Kenneth Ray Hook, age 90, of Ames, Iowa, passed away Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames.

A public visitation will be held Sunday, March 6, 2022, from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. at the Adams Funeral Home, 502 Douglas Avenue, Ames. Private funeral services will be held at a later date. Burial will be in the Ames Municipal Cemetery.

Kenneth Ray Hook was born on August 8, 1931, on a farm southwest of Dysart, Iowa, the son of Glen and Hattie (Kroeger) Hook. Ken graduated from Geneseo High School in 1949, as the president of his class. He went on to attend Iowa State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Education in 1953.

Ken served in the United States Air Force from 1953-1955 and was stationed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he met his future wife, Sara “Lee” Sprague; the two were married on April 28, 1956 in Des Moines.

Ken returned to Iowa State University from 1956-1960 in order to pursue his PhD in Veterinary Medicine, and again served as class president. Most of his career was spent working for the United States Department of Agriculture, and he and his young family were frequently moved around the United States from Massachusetts to Wisconsin.

The family moved back to Ames for a few years, where Ken worked at the National Veterinary Services Lab until 1981, serving as its director for his last two years there. Ken’s final job was in Laurel, Maryland until 1986, where he worked as Associate Deputy Administrator of Veterinary Services in Washington, D.C., where he had an office overlooking the Washington Mall.

Ken retired in 1986, and he and Sara Lee moved back to Ames. After Sara Lee passed away in December 1999, Ken remarried Elizabeth Bornholdt in 2001, and they lived together in Albuquerque, New Mexico for seventeen years, after which Ken returned to Ames to be closer to his family.

Ken was preceded in death by his late wife, Sara Lee; his parents, Glen and Hattie Hook; his brother, Leonard Hook; and his sister, Marlys Bloom. He is survived by his second wife, Elizabeth Bornholdt; his son, David Hook and wife, Jill, of Newton, Iowa; his daughter, Sue Ann Daley and husband, Greg, of Ames, Iowa; five grandchildren, Talbot Hook, Lindsey Hook, Spencer Hook, Megan Schoen and husband Nate, and Andrea Daley; one great granddaughter, Kenlee Schoen; and a sister, Connie Sash and husband Roger of Omaha, Nebraska.

In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation to the Iowa State University Small Animal Hospital, Northminster Presbyterian Church, or Israel Family Hospice House.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Adams Funeral Home and online condolences may be left for Ken’s family at www.adamssoderstrum.com.