Kenneth Matts Goran Esselstrom
July 2, 1953 October 29, 2012
Kenneth Esselstrom, 59, died unexpectedly on October 29th, 2012, in Crescent City, CA. He was born on July 2nd, 1953 in Jakobstad, Finland, and immigrated with his parents and brother to the United States in 1955. The family moved from Grants Pass, OR to Crescent City in 1958 where he attended local schools studying art, woodworking, and drafting. He continued his education at Shasta Jr. College in Redding, CA.
Ken worked at Lunds Plywood Mill as a teenager, and learned carpentry skills from his father, Goran, who built five of the family homes, and worked for many years in the building industry.
Ken was a General Building Contractor for 38 years and built many custom homes in Del Norte County. He also worked on large construction projects such as the Redwood National Parks headquarters and the Cultural Center.
He married Ardette Sveum in 1979, and they moved to the Bay Area in the early 1980s. He continued his building career in the Redwood City, Woodside, Atherton, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto areas. He was known for his fine woodworking skills and design expertise. He was a creative, artistic, master craftsman, and designed many of the projects he built for himself as well as others. Influenced by his Scandinavian heritage, Ken was passionate about modern architecture.
Ardette and Ken moved back to Crescent City in 2003 where they still had property, family and friends, and he continued building in the area.
He was predeceased by his mother, May-Lis Esselstrom, and brother-in-law Ted Sveum.
Ken is survived by his wife of 33 years, Ardette Sveum Esselstrom, father Goran Esselstrom, brother Tom Esselstrom (Ellie), sister Janise Esselstrom Owens (Jim Shattuck), all of Folsom, CA, Ardettes parents Ardean and Ruth Sveum of Crescent City, CA, sister-in-law Karen Sveum Greenly of Santa Rosa, CA, brother-in-law Eric Sveum (Lori) of Redwood City, CA and brother-in-law Mikkal Sveum (Handzia) of Sydney, Australia. Also surviving are six nephews, James, Erik, Drew, Bryan, Aleks, Jon, three nieces, Sonja, Claire and Jenna, one great-nephew, two great-nieces and numerous relatives in Finland.
Ken was a generous, kind, funny, talented man who will be deeply missed by his family and friends.