Kenneth J. Lacho, a former business management professor whose career at UNO spanned nearly 60 years and included the founding of UNO’s entrepreneurship program, died Nov. 27. He was 88.
Lacho retired in 2021 after more than 57 years as a faculty member in the College of Business Administration. His nearly six decades at UNO is a service record for a faculty member.
“Dr. Lacho was a valued member of the College of Business Administration family. He was a pioneer in entrepreneurship education and cared deeply about his students and their well-being,” said Pamela Kennett-Hensel, dean of the College of Business Administration. “He educated generations of local entrepreneurs in his 57 years at UNO. College of Business Administration alumni always reminiscence about Dr. Lacho’s courses and the impact he had on their lives.”
A native of St. Louis and resident of Covington for 17 years, Lacho arrived at UNO in 1964 after serving a stint in the Air Force and earning his master’s and doctoral degrees in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis. Lacho also earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Washington University.
His areas of research included entrepreneurship and small business. His academic honors include being elected as a fellow in the Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the Allied Academies Academy of Educational Leadership Creative and Innovation Education Award, U.S. Small Business Administration Raymond Hilgert Lifetime Achievement Award and the U.S. Small Business Administration Vision 2000 Models of Excellence award.
Lacho also taught in the UNO Training, Resource and Assistive Technology Center's Exceptional Entrepreneurs of Louisiana (ExcEl) Program, which helped persons with disabilities to start their own business.
“Many former students stayed in touch with Dr. Lacho and would visit his classes as guest speakers as a way to pay it forward,” Kennett-Hensel said. “Also, Dr. Lacho was a strong advocate for our many Veterans attending UNO and had a special bond with those students.”
Lacho is survived by his wife of 60 years, Judith Schoenwalder, his children, Kenneth D. Lacho (wife Rose Angelocci) and Kelli Lacho Lundin (husband Michael Lundin); and his grandchildren, Elizabeth Lundin, Rebecca Lacho, Michael Lundin II and Rachel Lacho.
A funeral will be held Friday, Dec. 2, at 11 a.m. at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 W. 21st Ave., Covington, with visitation beginning at 9 a.m. until service time. Interment will follow at Pinecrest Memorial Gardens.
The Lacho family kindly invites you to share thoughts, fondest memories, and condolences online at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home guest book.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in memory of Lacho to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
