William "Bill" H. Ketchum

William (Bill) Hall Ketchum, 70, of Ottawa, KS passed away Thursday, October 12, 2023 at St. Luke’s Hospice House in Kansas City, MO.  He was born June 10, 1953 in Tulsa, OK the son of Dr. Hall Ketchum and Margaret Arlene (Danielson) Ketchum.  He graduated from Memorial High School in Tulsa, OK with the Class of 1971.  He later earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK where he met his future wife.

Bill was united in marriage to Jan Lynn Christenson on June 26, 1977 in Oklahoma City, OK. They shared over forty-four years of marriage in Michigan and Kansas before Jan’s passing on January 9, 2022.

Bill worked for D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Bridgman, MI as a nuclear engineer and lived in Stevensville, MI. In 1983, he moved to Wichita, KS with his family and began to work at Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant in Burlington, KS where he specialized in probabilistic risk assessment. Bill and his family moved to Ottawa, KS in 1994. He had a deep passion for designing, making and flying kites; riding roller coasters; playing and rebuilding pinball machines; and driving his 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 in the River Run in Ottawa, KS. He especially enjoyed spending time with his family using his wit and sarcasm to keep them on their toes. Bill was a manager that preached safety and family first and lived his life by those same principles. “Go fly a kite!” was a favorite saying of Bill.

Mr. Ketchum was preceded in death by his parents, Hall and Margaret Ketchum; a sister, Nancy Jean Marks; and his wife, Jan Ketchum.

Surviving family includes a son, Steven Ketchum of Ottawa, KS; two daughters, Lisa Ketchum and her husband, Tyler Hatch of Ottawa, KS and Megan Ketchum and her husband, Charles “Chad” Seigneur of Philadelphia, PA; three grandchildren, Deacon and Kaley Hatch of Ottawa KS and Penn Seigneur of Philadelphia, PA; a sister, Marcia Ketchum of Tulsa, OK; and several nieces, nephews, and in-laws.

A Celebration of Life Visitation will be held Friday, October 20, 2023 from 3-5 PM at the Lamb-Roberts-Price Funeral Home, 325 S. Hickory, Ottawa, KS 66067.  Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge - Kansas City, MO and sent in c/o the Lamb-Roberts-Price Funeral Home, P.O. Box 14, Ottawa, KS 66067.  Condolences may be sent to the family through www.lamb-roberts.com.  

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