Ken Mooney, co-founder of K&M Electric Supply, passed away June 25th. The company released the following obituary:
William Kenneth (Ken) Mooney, age 78, of Stuart, Florida, beloved husband of Harriet Woods Mooney of 60 years, passed away on Saturday, June 25, 2022.
Ken was born and raised in Miami as the son of the late James and Mary Mooney. Harriet and Ken met in Miami and following their marriage lived on the University of Florida campus in “married students housing”. Harriet, while working at Southern Bell Telephone, helped put Ken through the University of Florida, where he graduated in 1965 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
Following graduation, Ken’s career began with General Telephone in Tampa. Several years later he joined IBM at Cape Canaveral where he worked with NASA. Later on, he was recruited by a friend to join RCA/AUTEC in West Palm Beach. Serendipitously, in 1970, running into his college friend at a local event, Ken and Ron Kaylor, initiated a plan to create an electrical distributing business. Ken, though not familiar with the electrical business, felt so confident in their pursuit to create their own destiny that he quit his job and went to work for a local electrical distributor in West Palm Beach. In 1972, in a small space in a strip center on Northlake Boulevard, Ken and Ron founded K&M Electric Supply. Their dream was that K&M Electric Supply would become the distributor of choice for all electrical contractors in Palm Beach County.
In 1975, with Ken’s insight, past knowledge and friends from prior employers, K&M became one of the first electrical distributors with a fully operating computer system in the United States. Ken, who throughout his career believed in technology and the importance of maximizing its use to control costs and increase productivity, ensured K&M’s success. To this day, thanks to Ken’s entrepreneurial spirit, K&M has continued to grow and as a result is one of the largest independently owned electrical distributors in Florida. K&M’s growth and success was also due, in part, because Ken looked at his business as more like a beloved hobby than a job.
Over the years Ken’s interests outside of business varied from the arts to travel to politics but when he wasn’t working, boating consumed a great deal of his time. Ken was an avid reader and a progressive thinker, always able to speak intelligently and passionately about numerous subjects and causes. Ken could, in many different ways, express his thoughts about and commitment to making the world a healthier place for all. During the past few years, though Ken never officially retired, he and Harriet traveled extensively and enjoyed their lives in Florida and especially their summers in Maine.
Philanthropically, Ken was a very generous man and regularly supported numerous charities. Recently he and Harriet established the Ken and Harriet Mooney Charitable Foundation. Their dream, through this foundation, is to support organizations that help those in need in South Florida as well as in communities around the globe. Ken’s philosophy with his gifts can be summed up by a Greek proverb: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
Ken is survived by his wife Harriet Woods Mooney, sister Mary Jean Hyde, younger brothers Jay Mooney and Claude Mooney, and many friends who loved and admired him. Ken was preceded in death by his older brother James (Jimmy) Mooney.
A private celebration of his life will be set at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to charities of your choosing that benefit food pantries, children or disadvantaged students.
Tagged with K&M Electric Supply, obituary
Kenny summered next door to me in the foothills of southern Maine…. The first few years he was like a kid in a candy store, fascinated by everything that was so different from Florida, the fresh fresh air, giant conifers, and people that were genuine salt of the earth and successful in their own way…. I was very saddened to learn of his passing. May he rest in peace in a better place.