Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Not unlike many of his generation who served in World War II, Ken Jarvis went about his business in a quiet, unassuming style, working in his own ways to better his community.

He did so as a church volunteer, a civic servant, a family man and a consummate professional in the newspaper industry.

Jarvis, who spent 20 years as head of the advertising department at the Forest Lake Times during a 39-year newspapering career, died from cancer on Thursday, Aug. 10 at his home in Lino Lakes. He was 81.

Never flashy and never overly outgoing, Jarvis was a man constantly in motion as the advertising manager for The Times, and St. Croix Valley Peach in Forest Lake.

In 39 years of selling newspaper advertising, directing sales teams and serving as marketing manager, Jarvis never lost sight of the ultimate goal ó providing customer service.

ìIíve always thought of sales as a service,î Jarvis said in a retirement interview in April of 1989. ìYou learn that on the job.î

His employment in Forest Lake was the last stop in a newspaper career that started in 1950 after military service during World War II and college at the University of Minnesota.

He was hired by former paper owner and publisher Duane A. Rasmussen on April 1, 1969. The two had been friends from their days in Austin where they grew up.

ìHe (Jarvis) came to work on April Foolís Day,î Rasmussen said of his friend. ìHe always chuckled about that.î

It was a date that stuck with Jarvis. When he retired at age 63 in 1989, he selected April 1 as his separation date from full-time employment.

He spent his first 12 years in Forest Lake as advertising manager. In 1981 he was named marketing manager under a reorganizational plan put in place by Rasmussen. He was charged with directing a sales force of 11 persons working to serve a client base in communities covered by local publications.

After retirement, he spent several years working part-time for the company as a sales consultant and working with the companyís commercial printing division and retail sales.

He spent the first three years of his newspaper career in Estherville, IA, on a daily paper. In 1953 he moved to the Austin Daily Herald where he worked in sales until 1965. In 1965 he became advertising manager at the Albert Lea Tribune where he worked until moving to Forest Lake.

More than work

Jarvis didnít stop working after leaving the newspaper shop.

He mixed work life with numerous community and church functions while living in Austin and Albert Lea. In 1969 he moved his family to Wyoming.

It took little time for Jarvis to find community involvement. He spent two years on the Wyoming Planning Commission before being elected to the Wyoming City Council. He served on the council nine years, leaving office in 1980.

He was instrumental in the local push for the construction of a municipal building, serving as building committee chair. He was also a key player in the city plans to approve and construct a sanitary sewer system in Wyoming.

He spent the final six years of his council tenure as liaison to the fire department where he was an advocate for needs of the local fire service.

He was an active member of Faith Lutheran Church, Forest Lake, serving four years on the church council.

His other civic duties included memberships in the Lions, Jaycees and Kiwanis.

The early years

Jarvis was born on May 13, 1925 in Austin to Guilbert and Phyllis Jarvis. His father was a career newspaper editor and his mother a teacher and housewife.

He graduated from Austin High School in 1943 and went immediately into the Army. He served with the 7th and 9th Armies in Europe in the latter stages of the war, taking part in the Rhineland campaign which followed the Battle of the Bulge. He was discharged in 1946.

He returned home, enrolled at Austin Junior College where he graduated in 1948. He finished his degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota two years later.

He married MaeEtta M. Waters of Austin in 1948.

Service details

A memorial service for C. Kenneth Jarvis was Tuesday, Aug. 15 at Incarnation Lutheran Church, Shoreview. A private interment took place at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, MaeEtta; children Richard (Ann), Nancy (Bill) Eisenmenger, Mark, Bruce and Keith; grandchildren Kristin, Joe, Jessica, Mindy, Nicole, Emily, Heidi, Amanda, Brian and Ben; great-grandchildren Lauren and Andrew; sisters Jeanette (Richard) Zellmer and Marian (Harvey) Lundey.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605