Kenneth Gauvin

Ken was born on January 13, 1952 in Providence, R.I. He was the eldest son of Lucien and Dorothy (Dolloff) Gauvin (both deceased) Beloved husband of Candace "Candy" E. Williams, of whom he had shared his love with for 52 years in marriage, and a courtship which dates back even longer to Park View Junior High School. Ken worked for many large companies in his youth. For two of them, he worked side by side with his father, Lucien, learning a manufacturing trade in textiles at Leesona Corp. in Warwick, and later as a manufacturer and inspector of precision gauge and measuring instruments at Federal Products Corp. in Providence, until his father’s untimely death. He remained with Federal Products Corp. and worked his way up to G.C. Inspector, IT Specialist, Web Designer and Software Engineer. He also wrote service manuals and set up various trade shows for the company, which he also attended, in Chicago, IL. On the side, he had learned the art of furniture upholstery from his uncles, which also led to working with Ted Jordan Upholstery, in Cranston. Ken was a keen photographer, and designed and built his own brand of clocks for his friends and family. “Jack of all Trades”, he was a dedicated sports fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. He loved to grow his tomatoes in the garden, go fishing and golfing with his friends. He was a canoeing & kayak adventurer, had paddled many big rivers in Rhode Island and Connecticut and actually once almost lost his life while doing so, but thankfully, just the canoe. He also wrote poetry, which was compiled and published in his school’s poetry book. With hopes of someday writing children’s books, he joined a writer’s correspondence course, started by Bennett Cerf, of the game show What’s my Line? fame and also contributed to by the notable Twilight Zone sci-fi author - Rod Serling! Ken loved listening to the blues - especially Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton. He wrote music, played guitar, keyboards, sang and in his youth, had a band which included friends and also his younger brother, Jimmy, on drums. With that band, he wrote, sang, played on and recorded a catchy 60s teenage pop tune onto a 45 rpm single entitled My Candy, for the love of his life, Candy - which she still has in her possession! He was a very good dancer, and even appeared on Wing Ding, a smaller, local equivalent to Dick Clark’s T.V. dancing show. Ken and Candy danced quite a bit together when they went out. He was related to two previous T.V. stars, one by another family member’s marriage. Ken was President of The French Club in junior high school, having previously attended an all-French elementary school. He was an altar boy at the connecting church, St. Charles Borromeo on Providence’s West Side. His ancestry also traces back to early France, England, Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands and Canada. He attended night classes at Community College of Rhode Island and eventually earned his college degree in the liberal arts. Ken had a great sense of humor and a “one liner” for everything - even when he had fallen ill. Two of his regrets in life - while a Boy Scout, he only achieved Life Scout and just missed Eagle Scout status. The other, never authoring the children’s books he hoped to someday publish. His favorite quote: “It is what it is!” Beside his wife Candace, he leaves his one son, Kenneth "Kenn" J. Gauvin, and his long time soulmate, Amy Myrick, of Brooklyn, N.Y. One son predeceased him in death, Jason "Jay" P. Gauvin, of Denver, Colorado, two grandsons, Julien and Kingston and Ken’s younger brother, James L. Gauvin (and Colleen). He also leaves many, many relatives, cousins and friends. Many Summer vacations were spent down in Jerusalem, R.I. at a wonderful beach house, with all of our dogs, family and friends - "je t’aime vous Ken - Candy". 

Memorial Service details to which all are welcome to attend are listed below.