Kenneth Elvik, age 91, of Ames passed away on November 24, 2021, at Northcrest Community Center.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, March 25, 2022, with a visitation beginning one hour prior to the service.
Kenneth Oswald Elvik was born in Sioux City, Iowa on June 29, 1930, the son of Norwegian immigrants, Martin and Bertha Elvik. He attended and graduated in 1948 from South Sioux City Nebraska High School. Ken attended National Business Training School in Sioux City. He worked for the Johnson and Winston Construction Co. as a timekeeper and payroll accountant.
Ken was drafted and served in the U.S. Army from 1952-1954 in the personnel office of the Adjutant General School where he was a personal management specialist. After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, Ken worked for Hodges Lumber in S. Sioux City in accounting and general sales until 1957.
Ken attended Morningside College in 1957 and earned his Business Administration degree and later earned his Master's degree from the University of Nebraska in 1960. In 1968, Ken married Donna Erickson and to this union they had one daughter, Brenda Marie, born in 1969.
In 1970, Ken earned his Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Nebraska. He accepted a position on the faculty in the Industrial Administration Department (now the Ivy College of Business) at Iowa State University. Ken retired in 1997 and enjoyed many years of fishing, family events, and winter trips to Florida. He was also a member of the Isaac Walton League and Bethesda Lutheran Church.
Having been born to immigrant parents, he appreciated the difficulties of learning a new language. Students from foreign countries appreciated the extra help he gave them. He served as the Treasurer of Academy of Accounting Historians, Secretary of Economics and Business History Society, Book Review Editor for the Accounting Historians Journal, and President of the Midwest Region of the American Accounting Association. He was awarded Outstanding Alumnus from the University of Nebraska, Beta Alpha Psi, and the Faculty Citation, ISU.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Martin and Bertha. Ken is survived by his wife, Donna; daughter, Brenda (Paul C.) Kaufmann of Traer, IA; two grandsons, Paul K. of Traer, IA and Noah of Quincy, IL. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family.