Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Lawrence McGranahan, US ARMY (Ret.), age 90, resident of Pensacola, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, August 8, 2026.

Ken was born on January 27, 1936, in Shreveport, LA. Upon his birth, his grandmother wrote to the extended family that an “another red-headed Irishman arrived on the 27th,” and Kenneth hit the ground running. Pursuing and pursued by his older brothers Gene and Mickey, Ken often spoke fondly of his childhood filled with the love of the outdoors, sports, and the development of his devotion to Catholicism. His Catholic faith was instilled first from his father, John, and mother, Louise, then later embodied in his marriage to Margaret (Peg), and fulfilled in the birth of their four daughters: Mary Margaret, Ann, Jennifer, and Julie. 

Graduating from Jesuit High School in Dallas in 1954, Ken enrolled at Spring Hill College in Mobile, and upon graduation from Spring Hill, Ken received his first commission as an officer in the U.S. Army. “Service to Country” was a key conviction in Ken’s life, and in his military career, Ken completed two tours in Vietnam along with assignments in Korea, Germany, Hawaii, and Colorado, among others. By the time of his retirement from the U.S. Army, he had earned two Bronze Stars, among other awards, and achieved the rank of Lt. Colonel. In the Army.

 Ken also discovered an interest and aptitude for running, setting up races at different bases for the soldiers and even running a marathon in his combat boots just to see if he could do it. Among his memorable running adventures, he ran the Honolulu Marathon and, while training for the Chicago Marathon at 67 years old, infamously completed three consecutive Bayou Texar loops in Pensacola in the heat of summer, leaping into the family pool between each loop. While stationed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Ken developed a love for the German mountain landscape and competitive skiing, which he continued back in Colorado Springs, joining a ski club upon returning to the states, where he was introduced to Peg O’Boyle from South Dakota, who would become the love of his life. Peg, a teacher who had traveled the world, shared his deep devotion to Catholicism and was present and caring in ways that were luminous. (One fact Ken and Peg frequently shared about their meeting was that they coincidentally drove matching convertible Volkswagen Beetles.) Their friendship bloomed into love, and Ken and Peg married in Colorado Springs at Pauline Chapel in 1975 with a reception at the Broadmoor Hotel, where Peg’s brother Tom was the resident pianist. 

Upon Ken’s retirement from the Army, Ken and Peg settled in Pensacola with their four young daughters where Ken worked happily with Crown Laundry while pursuing independent investments and contracts. Following his second retirement, Ken took great pleasure in reading (especially military history and fiction), drinking coffee on the porch while watching the birds, and sitting by the pool as his grandchildren swam. In Pensacola, the family became devoted parishioners of St. Paul Catholic Church where Ken and Peg attended mass for over forty years. Morning mass was a source of increasing meaning and peace for Ken, especially towards the end of his life. St. Paul Catholic Church and the community there have served as the living embodiment of Christ’s love, shepherding the family through all experiences. In his faith, work, and family devotions, Ken believed deeply in people and their abilities to apply themselves and achieve, especially where achievement was understood not just as career success, but as the fulfilment of human dignity. 

If there was one message that Ken’s life and commitments conveyed and embodied, it was that people can do great things: a life of meaning and virtue is within grasp. 

Ken is preceded in death by his wife, Margaret; his parents, John and Louise McGranahan;his brother, Mickey,

He is survived by his brother, Gene; four daughters, Mary Hurt (Craig), Ann Thomas (Ben), Jennifer McGranahan (Apollon), and Julie Fink (Jonathan); thirteen grandchildren, Genevieve, Thomas, Savannah, Nate, Madeline, and Gavin Hurt, Reilly, Seamus, and Roisin Thomas, Isabel Nittis, and Sibley, Margaret, and Hazel Fink. 

Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at Saint Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola, beginning with Visitation at 10:00 am, followed by a Rosary at 10:30 am and the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 am, with Fr. Grant Sennott and Fr. Craig Smith serving as Celebrants. 

The committal service will immediately follow at Barrancas National Cemetery, with full military honors being accorded by the US Army. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Saint Paul Catholic Church Capital Campaign/Family Life Center.