MILITARY CAREERS
Col. Ken Suggs Local Resident Spent Long & Fruitful Career in USAF by Mike Wilt When he was an active member of the United State Air Force, Kenneth Suggs would often participate in “multi-stop out-andback” exercises. He and the other pilots would leave their base, execute several “touch-and-go” landings at various locations, and then return to their home base. It’s understandable how one might consider that an apt description of the now-retired colonel’s life. Kenneth Suggs was born May 19, 1950 in the now-vacant Washington County Memorial Hospital in Bartlesville. However, he and his family lived in Copan. Kenneth’s dad, Les, was a pipe-liner from Hulah. His mom, Dickie Rae, was a homemaker and one of the popular Dobbs Sisters, a trio who often sang for area churches. When Kenneth was six-years-old, Les went to where the work was. Consequently, Kenneth attended six different first grades in Copan, Edmond, Flagstaff (AZ), Winslow (AZ), Gallup (NM), and Palmdale (CA). He went to school for only two weeks in California. His teacher told Dickie Rae to bring her son back for second grade because he was so far ahead of the other students. While in Palmdale, the Suggs decided to divorce. Dickie Rae loaded up Kenneth and his younger brother, Ben, and drove over 1,400 miles back to Copan. Since his mom couldn’t afford to raise two young boys, Kenneth went to live with an aunt and uncle in the small farming community of Westphalia, Kansas. “It was the ideal small American town to grow up in. There were 249 people when I got there and 248 when I left.” Kenneth was 12 years old when he moved back to Copan. “We lived off the money I made from my paper route. I got up at 4 a.m. every day and drove my Cushman motor scooter. Times were tough back then.” After completing her schooling, Dickie Rae joined Phillips Petroleum Company as a computer keypunch operator and, later, a data analyst. She also served as president of the Jane Phillips Society. In 1964, Dickie Rae married Robert K. Moore who also worked for Phillips, and the family settled in Bartlesville. Kenneth first attended College High (now BHS) as a ninth-grader. “They didn’t know what to do with me. I was just a bad boy from Copan.” In the fall of 1967, Kenneth transferred to Sooner High School (now Madison Middle School). “It was fun to have a new school, and I was fortunate enough to have Della Craighead as a teacher.”
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The English literature teacher was the first to be inducted into the Bartlesville Educators Hall of Fame. She passed away in 2018 at 101 years old. “She made me think of things I had never thought of. I was a ‘cool’ guy driving around with girls, but she made me think of life in general and what I was going to make of it. She was a pure angel.” After being in Sooner’s first graduating class in 1968, Kenneth headed to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. In November of 1971, he married his high school sweetheart and Col-Hi cheerleader, Cheryl Martini. Needing to make ends meet, the couple worked at the Pizza Hut in nearby Springdale where Kenneth was an assistant manager and Cheryl was the head waitress. As bitter fighting continued to involve U.S. forces in Vietnam, Kenneth received a draft notice in November of 1972. He was to report in January. “I had already used my college deferment, so it was not a question of going but when. My mom and I went to the draft board to ask if they could wait until I graduated. Mom wasn’t real excited after my foster brother joined the Marines and was killed in 1969.” Kenneth learned the various branches of the military had delayed enlistment programs, so he visited several recruiting offices. “I was always interested in aviation, but I was a kid from Copan. Where was I going to meet people who flew planes?” Kenneth graduated in May of 1973 with a degree in finance, economics, and banking. “Which I’ve never used.” While he scored a lot better on a test administered by the Marines, and despite the recruiter leaving a case of beer by his dorm room door, Kenneth joined the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in June of 1973. “However, I was able to come back to Bartlesville to help coach the Pony League baseball champions. Afterwards, I cut my long hair and boarded a plane for San Antonio.” Officer Training School (OTS) at Lackland Air Force Base was Kenneth’s first stop. “It was a whirlwind, but I liked the discipline and the attention to detail.” However, he almost didn’t qualify. As part of the three-month training, Kenneth went through a Flight Screening Program in which he was taught to fly a plane. “Most everyone had a private pilot’s licenses and had flying experience. I was a little behind and somewhat in awe that I was up there doing it.”
