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Kenneth Leee Atkinson ’90

A picture of Kenneth Atkinson

Kenneth Lee Atkinson ’90, April 23, 2011 in Fukui, Japan, from lung cancer. On the way to earn a BA in French from Reed, Ken spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. After college, he returned home to Santa Cruz, California, to manage the Sash Mill Cinema, and then moved to France to study culinary arts. In the ’90s, he cooked for Val d'IsFre, a ski resort in the Rhone-Alpes; at La Varenne, a French cooking school outside Paris; and at the Cordon Bleu cooking academy in Paris. At the academy, he met his future wife, Miwako. In 2004, they married and moved to Fukui, Japan. Despite dealing with cancer for six years, Ken taught English at the National University of Fukui and opened a private English language school. He enjoyed time with his family, as well as camping, tennis, skiing, biking, bodysurfing, traveling, and skydiving. Survivors include his wife and children Hiro and Hannah; his mother, Nancy Raney; his stepfather, William Raney ’58; and two sisters and brothers.

Appeared in Reed magazine: September 2011