Kenneth Orrin “Ken” Rider, 81, A lifelong resident of North Haven passed away peacefully on February 18, 2020, at home, with his family by his side. He was born on December 9, 1938 in New Haven to the late Orrin “Bud” and Sylvia Blakeslee Rider. Ken proudly served his country in the U.S. Army. Ken had many jobs and truly enjoyed every one of them. He was a police officer in North Haven for seven years. He then worked for Dichello Distributors as a sales manager for 21 years, where he made many lifelong friends. He worked for United Concrete Products with his nephew Peter. In 2004, he started a small business, KORCO, and worked in the communications business with his son David. He loved meeting new people and talking to them as he traveled throughout the state. Ken is survived by his wife of more than 57 years, Betty Ann Tenedine Rider. They loved being together and traveled to Aruba to spend time with their island friends. More recently, they spent most of their time in Tucson, Arizona, hiking through the mountains, riding horses and enjoying the desert lifestyle. He will be fondly remembered as a loyal husband, great father, grandfather, friend and hard worker. His greatest joy was spending time with his grandchildren. Ken is survived by his loving children, David Rider (Sharon) of Madison and Jacky Donohue (Terence) of Southington, along with his grandchildren Alexandra and Jeffrey Rider, Tyler and Samantha Donohue. He is also survived by his sisters, Gail (Phil) Retzer and Janet (Bill) Kaliszewski.
The visiting hours will be Thursday February 20th from 5 to 8 PM at The Havens Family, North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue. His funeral procession will leave the funeral home on Friday morning, February 21st at 9:30. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10:00 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Hamden. Interment with full military honors will follow at All Saints Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in memory of Ken to the Veterans Administration, 950 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, CT 06516.
My sincere condolences to Betty Ann and his children and grandchildren. I had the pleasure of knowing and working with Kenny at the North Haven Police Department. He was a great guy with a great sense of humor. He always had a smile on. I’ll always remember the good times we shared working at the P.D. I hope you will remember the fond memories your family had shared with Kenny also.
I am so very sorry to hear of Ken’s passing. He was such a kind gentleman who deeply loved his family and always supported his friends. Sending prayers of strength to his family at this difficult time.
My deepest Sympathy to Betty Ann, and the Rider Family…Ken and I were Volunteer Firefighters in the old North Haven Fire Dept., Center Co.#1, on Broadway..We worked many fires together..
My sincere condolences to the Rider family. I worked with Ken during the early 1970’s. He always was a gentleman and caring person who I would see from time to time in North Haven. RIP Ken
My sincere condolences to Betty Ann and family.Kenny was a wonderful man and a great friend. I have great memories of him with my husband Richard at the garage and also with my sons. He will be missed. It was a pleasure knowing him RIP Ken 😢🙏🙏
I am so sorry I love you guys so much. Part of the reson I kept coming back to Aruba was Ken.I enjoyed Ken and you guys so much. So many great memories with Ken. Truly one of the nicest guy I ever knew. He will be forever missed. I Love you Betty and Jackie
Sincerest sympathies to Betty Ann and the whole family from the members of the class of 1960 at North Haven High School.
Our sincerest sympathy to Ken’s family. He was such a fun guy. Ralph and I graduated with Ken in the class of 1956 from North Haven High School. Ralph played varsity sports with Ken and we have many happy memories of proms and school events. RIP
RIP Ken…
We played ball together from Little League thru NHHS. Great guy and excellent teammate.
Condolences to the family.
RIP KEN
We met 1951 playing Little League baseball
And had good times playing for Mike Vanacore’s early NHHS baseball teams. We had a blast, Kenny!
May God bless your family.
Sincerely, Dave Gould
Our most sincere condolences to the Rider family. We have known Ken since we were teenagers, and he was truly the nicest person ever.
As adults, we did business with him during the DiChello years. Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this sad time.
Sincerely,
Sheila and Charlie DeMartino
I “celebrate” Ken’s life and the beginning of his well deserved peaceful transition – when I think of words like, kindness, strong, determined and focused – I think of Ken. Ken was a father, husband, brother and to most of us a GREAT FRIEND! I know we will remember the experiences we shared and the memories of those moments will live on. The GIFT Ken gave each of us – was his time and I will never forget that “smile” which always made me feel that life was going to work out -as it should – I WILL TRULY MISS HIM – what a WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING – how lucky was I – to have been able to share time. I know what his words of wisdom to each of us would be ” just get out and dance – even if you don’t have the beat of the music….”
Dear Dave and Family,
My sincere condolences on your Dad’s passing. I remember him mostly from our
hockey days. Always kind, always helping.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all.
I will always remember Ken as the most loving and generous man that employed me as a young teenager to babysit for his fabulous children. He loved life ferociously, always with a twinkle in his eye and a grace that made everyone around him feel happy to be in his presence. My father adored him as well as Betty and all of my siblings grew up feeling that same way. He was a wonderful husband, father and true friend. He will be missed by the Guandalini family and always truly loved.
Nancy Guandalini
I haven’t seen you folks in years, but when I heard of Kenny’s passing I had to comment. He was such a fun guy, I am proud that I knew him. Condolences to Betty and the family.
Our deepest condolences to the Riders.
It was always a pleasure to see Mr. Rider, he always made time to stop what he was doing for a minute around his camp and chat. He was a big part of the Camp softball team with his great power to left and left center often hitting clutch extra base hits to secure victory. All of the camp kids looked up to him. I’m thankful I knew the man.
Bob McKenna
Played ball with Ken with NH Traders.He always took time to give pointers to us younger players. He was part of the fabric of North Haven. RIP
Played ball with Ken.He would always give us younger players tips.Was part of fabric of N.H. RIP
Betty Ann, I’m so sorry for your lose. We go back many years, but still remember the fun times. Please pass my condolences to your children and grandchildren.
Pam Johnson Hillman
Pinehurst, NC
My deepest sympathies to Mrs Rider David Jacky . I have fond memories of camp and the beach and your dad cooking bacon . Stay healthy and God bless.
I worked with Ken on the police department and he was a pleasure to work with and always had a great sense of humor and a great big smile. God bless him for all he touched in life. He will be sadly missed
I often think about Ken and David and summers at Camp Iroquois on lake Winnipesaukee. They use to spend a of time boating on their aluminum boat with a 9.9 evinrude motor on it. I remember Ken able to get David up on water skiis on that boat. We were all amazed. Condolences for his loss. Fond memories of the family.