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Kenneth Eugene Hungerford was born on May 5, 1916 to Charles and Ruth Hungerford in Madison, Wisconsin. At some point during his childhood, he and his family moved to Moscow, Idaho. Here he attended and graduated Moscow High School. While growing up in Moscow, he had an interest in amateur radio communication, and received his ham radio license in 1933.

After graduating high school in 1934, he attended the University of Idaho and finished in 1938 with a bachelor's in Forestry. In 1940, Kenneth went on to earn his master's in Wildlife Management at the University of Connecticut. For a time he worked for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and the Wildlife Service.

When the U.S. involvement in World War II became more prevalent, he worked for the U. S. Navy Radio Training School at the U of I beginning in 1942. Here he trained more than 4,000 radio operators. Kenneth was then drafted in 1945, and served with the U. S. Navy until he was discharged in 1946. That year he became a professor at the University of Idaho where he remained teaching until his retirement in 1978. Kenneth Eugene Hungerford died in October 2003 at the age of 92.