Edwin S. Kesney (January 5,1917-May 18, 2004)
By Allison Holuban
Early Life: New York and College
When Anna Russ-Kesney gave birth to her son, Edwin Selig Kesney, on January 5, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York, she was thirty-two years old and her husband, Lucien, was thirty-nine. Edwin was the first American-born member of his family with his father hailing from France and his mother from Austria.1 Kesney grew up in Queens, New York, living with his parents until his enlistment. Kesney’s father, Lucien, was a leather goods manufacturer, likely working in shoes; his mother, Anna, was an elementary school teacher. Lucien owned or managed his business, considering he was of the “employer” class according to the 1930 census.2 This afforded Edwin a life unlike many others coming of age during the Great Depression.
The Great Depression ravaged the United States and the global community. During the height of the decline, unemployment statistics recorded nearly twenty-five percent of Americans as unemployed with sixty-three percent of those having been unemployed for over a year.3 Contrary to how much of the nation coped with the Depression, Kesney and his family seemed to thrive. Kesney not only finished high school, but he also went on to complete his college education at Rensselaer Polytechnic University where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.4 By 1940, Kesney was working in a machine shop as a draftsman.
Service: The US Army Signal Corps
Kesney worked at this job until the United States Army drafted him in 1941. It may have been his college education that explains why. After his induction, Kesney began his training at the US Army Signal Corps Officer Training School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, likely in radio technology based on his postwar employment. Upon completion of this course, he would have been commissioned as an officer in the Signal Corps.5
The US Army Signal Corps in World War II served as both the teaching and technology development sectors of the US Army. Signaleers trained servicemen with educational levels ranging from a Ph.D. to men with no formal schooling to operate new communication technologies.6 The Signal Corps was responsible for the implementation of mobile radio communication units, as well as the introduction of RADAR for military use, a vital development to warn the Allied Forces of German aerial assaults.7 In addition to his service, Kesney also met and married his lifelong wife, Dorothea Roche, on November 8, 1945.8
Post-Service: Institute of Radio Engineers
After leaving the US Army on February 3, 1946, as a captain, Kesney continued working in radio technology through the Institute of Radio Engineers.9 Prior to moving to Florida in 1997, the Kesneys lived in Stamford, Connecticut, where Edwin worked for Ray Proof Corporation, a leading manufacturer of medical X-ray shielding.10 While working for Ray Proof, Kesney joined a list of petitioners advocating for the formation of the Professional Group on Radio Frequency Interference (PGRFI). This group later joined the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers Electromagnetic Compatibility Society (IEEE EMCS) and advocated for the standardization of methods in building and operating electromagnetic equipment to prepare themselves for the future of wireless communication and wireless technology.11
While in Connecticut, the Kesney family had four children: John, Patricia, Thomas, and William. John joined the US Army by 1971, Patricia worked for GE Credit, and Thomas and William had yet to finish school.12 Kesney continued working for Ray Proof—eventually receiving a promotion to president of sales—until his retirement in 1997 when he began spending winters in Florida.13
Kesney and his wife began permanently living in Florida in 2002, where they had a house in Vero Beach.14 Unfortunately, Kesney’s wife, Dorothea passed away just a year later on August 23, 2003, with Kesney following her on May 18, 2004 in New Port Richey. Dorothea lived until the age of 83, and Edwin to the age of 87.15 Edwin Kesney was memorialized in Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida in Section MD, Site 37 on July 15, 2004. He should be remembered as a man who used his talent in war and peace for the betterment of the nation.16
Endnotes
1 “1925 New York State Census,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 14, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney, AD 04 ED 03, Queens, New York City, New York.
2 “1930 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 14, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney, ED 352, Queens, New York City, New York.
3 Robert A. Margo, "Employment and Unemployment in the 1930s." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 7, no. 2 (1993): 43.
4 “U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney, 115.
5 “Class 04-1942” Army Signal OCS www.armysignalocs.com (accessed 8/3/2017), entry for Edwin Kesney.; IRE Directory (Institute of Radio Engineers, 1960), 245.
6 Rebecca Robbins Raines, Getting the Message Through: A Branch History of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. (Government Printing Office, 1996), 256.
7 Raines, Getting the Message Through, 275.
8 “New York City, Marriage Indexes, 1907-1995,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney, 894.
9 “U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2006,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney.; IRE Directory (Institute of Radio Engineers, 1960), 245.
10 “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney, Stamford, Connecticut, 1971, 364.; “History- ETS-Lindgren,” ETS-Lindgren : www.ets-lindgren.com (accessed July 29, 2017), http://www.ets-lindgren.com/history.
11 “Getting Close!,” pamphlet, EMC Society : emcs.org (accessed August 3, 2017), 2.; “About EMCS,” online, EMC Society : emcs.org (accessed August 3, 2017), http://emcs.org/about_main.html.
12 “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney and family, Stamford, Connecticut, 1971, 364.
13 “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney and family, Stamford, Connecticut, 1971, 364.;
14 “U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney.
15 “U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Dorothea A. Kesney.; “U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2006,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney.
16 “U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2006,” database, Ancestry.com : http://www.ancestry.com (accessed July 29, 2017), entry for Edwin S. Kesney;
National Cemetery Administration, "Edwin S. Kesney," US Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed September 18, 2018, https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/NGLMap?ID=7270560
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