Longtime furniture designer Kenneth Charles DeWitt dies

Worked for Lane, Conant Ball before retiring

Staff Staff -- Furniture Today, August 19, 2008

LYNCHBURG, Va. - Kenneth Charles DeWitt, a longtime furniture designer for Lane and Conant Ball, has died after a long illness. He was 79.

DeWitt served as a military police officer in the Army from 1951 to 1953 during the Korean conflict. After graduating from the Kendall College of Art and Design in his native Grand Rapids, Mich., he worked a furniture designer for Conant Ball Furniture Co. in Gardner, Mass. from 1960 to 1981.

He then moved to Lynchburg, where he worked as a senior furniture designer for the Lane Co. from 1981 until his retirement in 1996. After retiring he did some design work for several furniture companies, including Nichols & Stone.

He is survived by his wife, a son, two daughters and two grandsons.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. John's Episcopal Church, 200 Boston Ave., Lynchburg, Va. 24503, or to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 2314, Lynchburg, Va. 24505.