Kenneth Boynton Oxtoby of Truro died on June 21, 2025 after suffering a stroke. He was 69.
Ken was born on June 7, 1956 in New York City to the late Toby Ewing Oxtoby and Lillian Rosen Oxtoby. He spent childhood summers at Captain Jack’s Wharf in Provincetown. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan in 1975, he worked as a furrier and drove a taxi in New York City.
As a teenager opposed to the Vietnam war, Ken joined Youth Against War and Fascism, a wing of the Workers World Party. He was involved in the Irish liberation movement and opposed U.S. wars in Central and South America and Apartheid. Ken stood firmly against racism and LGBTQ oppression and for the rights of women.
He moved to Provincetown in 1986, intending to stay for the summer. Those plans changed when he met and fell in love with Jane Corbin. They were married in 1987 at the Wellfleet Congregational Church.
Ken’s skills were manifold. He was a firefighter, a police dispatcher, a school nurse, and a bartender, but he was best known as a paramedic. He was seen by many as the calm presence needed in emergencies. He was there for the first infant born in a Truro ambulance, followed a few years later by the first infant born in a Provincetown ambulance.
He joined the board of Outer Cape Health Services in 1996, which inspired him to earn a nursing degree from Cape Cod Community College in 2004. He worked as an RN for Outer Cape Health for 20 years, retiring in 2020 but continuing to work part-time until this May.
Ken served on the Truro School Committee and volunteered wherever he was needed, including Wellfleet Preservation Hall, the Payomet Performing Arts Center, and the Provincetown Portuguese Festival.
He was co-chair of the Walsh Property Community Planning Committee and spoke in support of affordable housing at Truro town meeting in May. He was a much-loved member of the Beachcombers Club, where his cooking skills, friendship, and generosity were legendary.
Ken and Jane were world travelers and fans of cruises; they had the next one planned before disembarking. They returned from a recent trip to the Bahamas less than a month before his illness, with a cruise from Hawaii planned for the fall.
Ken’s greatest love was his family.
He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Jane Corbin of Truro; his children, Racine, William, and Eric, all of Truro; his half-brother, John Oxtoby of Portland, Ore.; and many cousins.
A celebration of his life is planned for September. Donations in his name may be made to the Beachcombers Club Restoration Fund, Box 855, Provincetown 02657; the Truro Rescue Squad, Box 2013, Truro 02666; or the Lily House in Wellfleet.
