Kenneth R. Foulks

Kenneth R. Foulks, 76, of Keyport (formally Middletown), passed away on Friday, 18 June 2021 at Riverview Medical Center due to COVID related complications.

            He was born on 30 July 1944 in Long Branch, NJ, to his loving parents Harold and Marion (Helwig) Foulks. The second of three sons, he grew up in the Belford section of Middletown Township surrounded by the large Foulks and Helwig families. He excelled at sports and was a varsity athlete on the Middletown Lions baseball, basketball, and football teams as well as the 1963 Middletown High School Class President. However, it was on the baseball diamond that he excelled the most and earned All-State, All-Shore, and All-County honors as a pitcher. Along with teammate Ken Bullivant, they formed one of the best pitching tandems in Shore Conference history. Upon graduation, he was drafted by ten major league baseball teams and was inducted into the Middletown North Lions Hall of Fame in 1994, joining his father, Bud Foulks, and Uncle, Doug Foulks. After graduation, he then went to the Pennsylvania Military College in Chester, PA, on a baseball scholarship, and started as a freshman on the varsity football team as a running back.

            Leaving college early, he married Judith A. Toynbee of Port Monmouth on 1 May 1965.  They had known each other since they were teenagers at the Belford United Methodist Church and would enjoy 39 years together living in Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey. Soon thereafter he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served on active-duty as a Special Forces team medic and airborne rigger from 1965-68 and then in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Team Medic with the 11^th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in the early 1970s. After leaving active service, he joined the Metropolitan Police department in Washington, DC as a patrolman. In 1969, he took a position with the newly formed Brookdale Community College police department and retired in 1992 as Captain of the department. He then went to work for Canon, USA in Jamesburg, NJ, as director of security and worked there until he finally retired in 2003.

            During his lifetime, he was a life-long member of the Belford United Methodist Church, Monmouth Lodge #172 (Free &Accepted Masons), the American Legion, the Policemen’s Benevolent Association, and the Fraternal Order of Police. He coached little league baseball for MYAA baseball, an organization his father helped established and was a former Monmouth County Park commissioner.

            He was predeceased by his parents, Harold and Marion, his older brother Harold H. Foulks Jr., and his beloved wife Judy Foulks, in 2005.

            He is survived by his son, COL (Ret.) Kenneth R. Foulks, Jr., and his wife Mary-Elizabeth Foulks of Bel Air, MD; and daughters Karrie E. Foulks of Keyport; and Kortney Burke and her husband Dr. Richard Burke of Boston, MA. Additionally, he is survived by his grandchildren, Matthew G. Foulks, Kenneth R. Foulks III and his wife Liz Foulks, Michael R. Foulks, Jackson T. Burke, and Ava Judianna D’Arc. He is also survived by his brother, Gary P. Foulks, Sr and his wife Shirley Foulks of Middletown.

            His impact upon his family was profound, and the loss has created a void in all their lives. A private committal service will be held for family members on a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the USO at https://www.uso.org/ or the Military Working Dog Team Support Association (MTDTSA) at https://www.mwdtsa.org/

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