Obituary of Kenneth John Yost

Kenneth John "Jack" Yost of State College, PA, died March 19, 2023 at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA.

Born Sept 18, 1932 in Hamilton, Ohio, he was the son of Kenneth and Dorothy Heckert Yost. On April 6, 1974, he married Patricia Buckles Yost in West Lafayette, IN.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his and Patricia's children, Elizabeth Yost of Fort Worth, TX and Julia Yost and her husband, Matthew Schmitz, of New York, NY, and by children from previous marriage; Debra Datta and her husband, Chris, of Washington, DC, Heather Algiere and her husband, Patrick, of Crofton, MD, and Kenneth John Yost and his wife, Susie, of Frederick, MD. Also surviving is one brother, William Yost and his wife, Susanne, of Greenwood, IN. Grandchildren include Hugh, Roger and Josiah Schmitz of New York City, Mathias Yost of State College, Wade Yost of Frederick, MD, Kira Brunton and her husband, Greg, of Ohio, Natalia Burke and her husband, Ben, of Ohio, and Tallie Anne Algiere of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is also survived by 8 great grandchildren.

Jack lived his early years mostly in Westport, CT, and graduated from Staples High School in Westport. He then moved with his parents and brother to Preble County, OH, where he worked on his Grandfather Yost's farm, and attended college at Miami of Ohio in Oxford, OH. After a tour of duty with the US Army, Jack completed his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Physics from Miami of Ohio, and then earned his PhD in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University.

He worked for several years in the nuclear reactor division at the Oak Ridge National Lab in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, then returned to Purdue on the Nuclear Engineering faculty, and later in Research Administration, as Director of Sponsored Programs. He worked on a collaborative University/Government/Military project in the late 1980s in Northern Virginia with the Office of Naval Research and the Pentagon, then completed his work life at The Pennsylvania State University as Associate Vice President for Research. After retirement from Penn State, he kept his mind active by working into his late 80's as a tax specialist during tax season at H&R Block in State College.

Jack was an avid college football fan, first of the Purdue Boilermakers, and in his later years, of the Penn State Nittany Lions. His other leisure time love was for sailing. For 25 years he enjoyed hosting friends and family members for escapades on his 45-foot sailboat, Jackpot, near Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay.

Jack was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, evidenced by the fact that we struggled to locate a photo that did not include one or more grandchildren piled on or near him.

Visitation will be held from 2 until 3pm on Saturday, March 25, 2023 in the Word of God Chapel at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 867 Grays Woods Blvd, Port Matilda.

Funeral Mass will be held at 3pm in Word of God Chapel with Father Jozef Kovacik officiating.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Centre Volunteers in Medicine at 2520 GreenTech Drive, State College, PA 16803.

Online condolences may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com or visit us on Facebook.