Kenneth "Ken" Elridge Bull, Jr.

Kenneth "Ken" Elridge Bull, Jr., 97, of Hampstead, MD, passed away on Monday, December 4, 2023, at Bethania Home Care in Westminster, MD.  Born on January 31, 1926, in Baltimore County, MD, he was the son of the late Kenneth Elridge Bull, Sr. and Myrtle M. Baker Bull.  He was the beloved husband of Ruby Irene Leppo Bull, who passed away in 2020, for over 74 years.

Years ago, Ken worked in construction. He had also worked for the Baltimore County Police Bureau for 12 years, the Baltimore Board of Education for 5 years and various general contractors though the years. He was a proud WW II veteran of the United States Navy, serving from 1943 to 1947.  He was a 50+ year member of the Masonic Lodge in Manchester, and the VFW Post 467 in Westminster.

Surviving him are children: Beverly Hockstad and husband Michael of Manchester, MD, and Dennis G. Bull and wife Deborah of Anderson, SC, 4 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

Ken is predeceased by his sister: Charlotte V. Muller and stepbrother: Dr. George Lintz.

Born before the Great Depression, Ken saw his family and friends in dire poverty in the Prettyboy area of Baltimore Co.  As a youngster, he worked at the New Freedom Canning Factory and helped neighboring farmers such as the Hoshall family.  He would catch rides or walk the distance from Rayville to New Freedom along with one of his friends.  He saw Prettyboy Dam being built and the connecting roads.  He joined the Navy Recruits at age 14 and joined the US Navy at age 16.   Not wanting to be drafted, he quit his senior year at Sparks.  After basic training with the amphibious forces in Illinois, he was assigned to the great LST 742.    Upon going to Pittsburgh where his ship was being built, he and the other sailors were sent back to their homes on delayed orders, for nearly 10 days.  His buddy, Allen Mathews, of Rayville asked Ken if he wanted to go to a dance hall (actually an old chicken coop) in Manchester, MD.  Dad asked Allen if you have enough gas to get us back home!  That night Ken met his beautiful 'red head coke bottle figure future' wife, Ruby I. Leppo.  So back to the War… He met his ship and most of his shipmates in Pittsburgh and took on more shipmates in New Orleans after traveling down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.   While in Pittsburgh awaiting boarding, the sailors went to various restaurants.  None of the Pittsburgh restaurants would allow the sailors to pay!  Amazing!  The sailors were treated with so much respect.

Training continued in the Gulf and the Caribbean.  From there he went to the Asiatic Pacific carrying heavy equipment and Marines from island to island.  Ken, and his shipmates received a medal for liberating the Philippine people.  At the end of the war, the LST 742 and its crew and other ships transported Japanese from Prisoner of War camps back to Japan or to other destinations to be transported back to Japan.  They also picked up American POWs and Australian POWs and took them to a flotilla of ships to be transported back to the US mainland or to Australia.  The LST 742 was then loaned to Japan and taken back by the US Navy to help in the Korean War.

After the war, Ken and Ruby were married September 28, 1946, at Greenmount Methodist Church in Hampstead.  Ken, through the aid of the GI Bill studied masonry construction at the Baltimore Construction and Engineering School.  He worked in residential construction of homes and later commercial construction where he continued mastering his skills and became a construction manager, superintendent. For such companies as Parkway Construction, David S Brown etc.  After retirement, dad looked up all of his war/ship buddies.  Without the aid of a computer, he located all the men, living and dead.  The surviving crew members met for 9 different shipmate parties throughout the US…one being in Pittsburgh!  The crew members also helped others out who had financial difficulties…the brothers banded together.   Ken was asked by his commanding officers to write a book about the LST 742 and its men.  Ken took on the task and in March 1998 he completed and copyrighted Near Misses and Direct Hits.

The family will receive visitors on Friday, December 8, 2023, from 2-4 and 6-8 pm at the ECKHARDT FUNERAL CHAPEL, P.A., 3296 Charmil Drive, Manchester, MD 21102, where a funeral service will be held on Saturday at 10 am with Chaplain Art Monroe officiating.

Interment to follow in Greenmount United Methodist Church Cemetery, Hampstead, MD.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Memorials, Bridging Life (Hospice) 200 Memorial Ave., Westminster, MD. 21157, Bridginglifecare.org//make-a-gift or Friends of Disabled Veterans of Carroll County, P.O. 585, Manchester, MD 21102 (Bill Murphy).