King Estate Winery Pinot Gris & Pinot Noir Oregon Wine

May GOD bless the King family in this hour of sorrow. The avionics industry hasn’t been the same nor will it ever be. I will never forget the man and leader that believed in his dealers and provided manuals and test equipment at an affordable price, if he even charged anything. I’m pleased and honored to have been a part of the King Radio Family. I was even more surprised at the wonderful wines from King Estates! May give you, Carolyn, and your family peace.
Rest well, Ed.
Tom Turnbull

My fondest memory of Ed King was very unsettling for me at the time it happened. I was a fairly new employee at King Radio in 1981. My husband would pick me up from work on his motorcycle in front of the building where the executive offices were. Of course it was after 5 and I was walking very briskly towards the front offices to head out and meet up with my husband. I should mention here that I was also carrying a motorcycle helmet, purse and probably some other things as well. The hallways had those mirror globes on the ceilings at the intersections but who pays attention to those, right? Anyway, I pretty much charged around the corner only to bump/run/smack into this very nice gentleman…whose papers I knoced out of his hand onto the floor everywhere! Upon realizing who I had just mowed down, I immediately proceeded to apologize profusely and help pick up his papers! At this point I thought I was out of a job the next day but Ed was so very gracious and forgiving…perhaps almost amused by the whole thing. With a sweet smile and a twinkle in his eye, I could see he rather felt sorry for me because of how bad I felt. Well, I spent the next 8 years there working for Mr. King…never once being called into his office for termination.

I truly enjoyed my years at King Radio and was honored to work for someone with qualities that are very rare in business these days, genuine care and concern for his company and employees. I felt like part of a family there and my heart goes out to Ed King’s family during this difficult time.

We visited King Estate a few days ago and learned about Ed King’s passing there.  He was an amazing person and built a winery where few or no grapes were grown before.  KIing Estate makes superb wines and has always promoted Oregon as a first class wine region, especially for Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.  Our prayers and sympathy go to his family.  A toast to a great man with… of course… his much loved Pinot Gris.
Vicki and Joe Garrigo, Wine columnist, Miami FL

 To Ed’s family, my wife and I would like to express our sincere sympathy in his death. Ed lived a long and productive life. He was and will be much admired for his accomplishments.
Because of his entrepreneurial spirit, I had a wonderful opportunity to work and apply myself as an electrical engineer recently out of college. Ed was a father figure for me as my own father had died early in my life. I shared his enthusiasm for airplanes and the avionics that were so necessary to expand the utility and safety of flight. I wish him the best in his last flight west.

The King Family: I would like to thank the King family for having a special tribute for the employees to attend as we all know Ed would of loved it. As an employee and friend it meant alot to chat with the family about Ed and his long amazing life. I’m not much of a public speaker but wished I had raised a glass of Pinot Gris to  him on that day. So lets all raise our glasses in a toast to Ed for being a friend to his employees and making them feel important in what ever job they were doing. Thank you Ed III,Carolyn, and the rest of the king family for allowing the employees to share their memories with you. A toast to a special kind man.  Fond Memories 

 Ed King was my very distant cousin – I think his grandfather and my great-great-grandfather were brothers, in the King family – and we corresponded briefly in the early 1990s about our common interest in the family history.  He sent me an entire binder filled with his research about all of the King ancestors, and all of the descendants he knew about.  How generous!  I will always think warmly of him, and I am sorry not to have met him in person.

Laura (Geuy) Akers
(LauraA@ori.org)

I was employee number 67 for King Radio starting in May of 1967. Mr. King took me in as an Electronic Technician  just out of the US Air Force and although the name of the company changed several times, I remained for 38 years, retiring as an Engineering Manager in 2005. While working in Engineering for 37 of those years, I experienced working with a down to earth company president that would come into your office and first ask you about your family to not having any personal contact with management two levels above you. Mr. King would talk to us in the halls, congratulate us when we completed Engineering Releases and many of us thought it would always be like that for our careers.  I designed avionic Flight Control Systems but also was fortunate to work on Mr. King’s “other projects” such as the Voyager Around the World Flight and his first venture into Marine Autopilots. I was fortunate to be on Flight Tests with Mr. King as well as Tests of the Marine Autopilot down at Key West, Florida. He treated all of us as co-workers. My Mom and Dad came to visit us at Christmas one year and I took them out to the plant to show them what I was working on. Mr. King saw us in the lab and came over to welcome them to Kansas and I will never forget that very special half hour at King Radio. My condolences to the family he leaves behind and I thank you so very much for sharing him with all of us that worked “with” him and not “for” him.

It was so sad to hear of Ed’s passing he was a fine man and friend. My husband Don Dickinson flew with him back in Carefree Arizona. Ed will be missed.
Sincerly,
Don and Jayne Dickinson, San Diego, Ca