Kenneth Bogue

Kenneth (Ken, Kenny) George Bogue passed away peacefully on Aug. 19, 2026, at Silverado Memory Care in Encinitas, California, after a long and brave battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Born Aug. 15, 1943, in Montreal, Canada, Ken remained a proud Canadian for all of his 83 years. Ken’s love for his beloved mother (Margaret) and his four siblings remained his most cherished memories until the end. Ken had two children, Sean and Susan, with his first wife, Carol Ann Bogue. For the last 22 years, Ken was husband to his beloved wife Elizabeth (Liz) Bonnet.

As a boy, Kenny was known for his charm. His impish grin and sparkle can be seen in a photo on the front page of the Montreal Gazette with older brother Brian when they were little boys watching Santa pass by on snow covered streets during Montreal’s Christmas parade in 1944, a keepsake he treasured. Ken spent his early career at Robin Hood Flour, which took him to Saskatchewan. He then quickly moved back to Montreal, where he found himself in the paint industry, which eventually helped him and his family make the move to Boston. Fed up with corporate America, he bought his own business in the 1980s and ran East Coast Plastics in Natick and then Framingham for more than 20 years. The company charitably employed his children and many of their friends through several brutally hot summers.

Ken worked to be the best father he could be, and he enthusiastically taught his kids how to skate, play hockey and ringette, throw a baseball, ski, play backgammon and bridge, drive a car, change a tire, break rules, use a table saw, build a deck and pinch a penny. He strove to give his children a lifetime of love and support, and he worked hard to ensure they had a better life than he had. That they did was a deep source of pride to him, even if he often expressed incredulity about it.

Ken loved his lake houses, first with a summer getaway north of Montreal and then later as his permanent residence in Hopkinton. He loved his small boat, on which he taught Sean and Susan to waterski — no small feat as the little boat had limited, inconsistent horsepower (not to mention questionable buoyancy) and much-used oars. Ken paid that no mind, as when he stepped aboard the vessel, he acted as though he was taking the helm of a yacht, even sporting a huge white captain’s hat. It was an apt metaphor for his life: Ken was a master at squeezing lemonade from lemons.

Though he made some questionable stylistic and home renovation choices in life (notably his decision to line the bottom of the aforementioned boat with astroturf, to grow a ponytail in middle age and to rig a fan inside his home’s gas fireplace), his marriage to Liz was one of his best decisions. Ken and Liz traveled the world together and eventually made a home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where they retired. They spent their days gardening, art collecting, playing games and planning their next trip. They created amazing trips with Liz’s grandkids Tyler and Mackenzie. Ken was endlessly improving, renovating and making their home a testament to their travels.

Indeed, Ken was most happy when he was home with Liz, working on home projects. He loved puttering around and fixing things, often in ways that could only be described as dangerously — yet proudly — improvisational. He also loved drinking his evening glass(es) of Scotch whiskey, listening to Elvis, Kenny Rogers and Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Long as I Can See the Light” was playing as he drew his last breath), his miniature cannon collection and looking at old photographs. He was often seen sporting a crown-like baseball hat adorned with the pins he collected throughout life, from coaching his kids’ teams to his travels with Liz in Europe and Asia.

The titles he most cherished were those of father, son, brother, husband, grandfather, uncle and friend. He is predeceased by his mother, Margaret Savage Bogue, and sister Catherine Bogue. He is survived by his wife, Liz, his children, Sean Bogue (Kristin) and Susan Bogue Myslik (Dave), siblings Brian (Dawn), Virginia and Robert (Michele), and his grandchildren, Katie and Elliot Bogue, Maggie Myslik, Tyler Ince and Mackenzie Baron.

He remained a charmer and a flirt his entire life, even in the grips of Alzheimer’s. The staff at Silverado reported he was blowing kisses to the whole staff until his last days. We would like to thank the staff at Silverado for the loving and dedicated care they provided for Ken in his last years of life.

Ken never passed a Salvation Army bucket without throwing in a donation. If you are moved to, a meaningful remembrance of Ken would be to make a donation in his name to The Salvation Army (salvationarmy.ca/get-involved/donate). Alternatively, donations to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund would be a loving way to remember him (curealz.org).

All are welcome to join the family in celebrating Ken’s life with an urn burial at 9:45 a.m. on Oct. 10 at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. A luncheon nearby will follow. Please email kenboguememorial@gmail.com for details.

Obituaries are submissions, typically from funeral homes, that are not subject to the same level of editorial oversight as the rest of the Hopkinton Independent. Obituaries may be edited for grammatical and factual mistakes and clarifications and shortened for space considerations.