Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 21/01) - Former town councillor and city businessman Kenneth Hornby passed away last week in Victoria at the age of 74.

Hornby first came North in the early 1940s, following on the heels of his father, Malcolm "Smoky" Hornby, who is remembered for installing Yellowknife's first power lines.

An electrician himself, Hornby open the North's first electrical supplies store, Yellowknife Electric, sometime during the early 1950s.

In 1950, he married Kay, the daughter of Northern aviation pioneer Ernie Bossa.

Twelve years later, Hornby shifted gears to become a founding partner of Ptarmigan Airways, laying the groundwork for an aviation legacy that would continue for more than 30 years.

After serving a term on town council, Hornby ran for the territorial executive council's first elections in 1970 and lost.

"He would listen, he was a leader, he was a man you could turn to and say 'what do you think?' " said daughter Nicki Suvan.

In addition to Suvan, Hornby is survived by his wife Kay, daughters Lesley and Emma-Marie, son Dusty, and six grandsons.