Kenneth D. Tollefson – Class of 1957

            His stories and intelligence are striking, but one of his statements stands above the rest, “I failed more than I succeeded, but you learn from your failures…or at least you should.”

            Kenneth D. Tollefson was born March 28, 1939 in Montello, Nevada to two Great Depression survivors, Roselyn and John Tollefson.  He has two older siblings Carol and John.

            In 1957, Mr. Tollefson graduated from Sparks High leaving his activities behind in order to make a change in the bigger world.  Post high school he enlisted to the Nevada Air National Guard and was called into action for the Vietnam War.  After the war, he married a woman named Jacklyn and together they had three children: Terry, John and Kevin.

            Colonel Tollefson is a Bronze Star Vietnam War Veteran and recipient of the Defense Distinguished Service medal, the nation’s highest peacetime Defense award.

            Colonel Tollefson was one of the creators of the “Gathering of Eagles Program.” Today the program provides scholarships to AFROTC students around the nation.

            For five years, Colonel Tollefson was Commander of the defense Plant Representative Office at Douglas Aircraft Company and was responsible for contract management of the Air Force’s C-17A, the nation’s newest airlifter.

            After retiring from the Air Force in 1992, Colonel Tollefson became the Purchasing Manager for the County of San Diego and designed, developed, named and implemented the county of San Diego’s “BuyNet” system.

            He left the High Tech environment in 2003 to preserve his health and spend time with his family.

Inducted 2008