Kenneth Lee Tingley was born in Billerica, Massachusetts, on October 29, 1915, the son of Henry K. Tingley and Evelyn Blanche Newton. He had three siblings: Arthur, Ruth, and Charles. The Tingley family later lived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where Kenneth and his wife, Thelma Garuti (1918-2009), resided in the early 1940s. Tingley enlisted in the United States Army before July 1942, and trained at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, in late 1944. He served in Europe with the 304th Infantry Regiment's supply company between November 1944 and July 1945, and saw combat during the Battle of the Bulge, the Rhineland Campaign, and the Central Germany Campaign. In July 1945, he was transferred to the 406th Infantry Regiment, and in October 1945 he was transferred to the 315th Infantry Regiment. He returned to the United States around December 1945. Tingley served as a captain in late 1944 and was promoted to major on April 1, 1945. He and his wife had at least two children, Susan (b. January 31, 1944) and Kenneth, Jr., and lived in Litchfield, Connecticut, in the early 21st century. Kenneth Lee Tingley, Sr., died on April 16, 2008.
From the guide to the Kenneth L. Tingley correspondence, Tingley, Kenneth L. correspondence, 1942-1949, 1945, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
