Kenneth Carleton Townsend, who worked with explosives used in quarries, died Tuesday of a heart attack at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 73.

Mr. Townsend, who lived in Mays Chapel, founded Townsend Explosives Inc., a White Marsh firm that supplied rock quarries with explosive materials. He sold the company in 1995 and then began a marketing business.

Earlier, he was a salesman for E.I. DuPont de Nemours' explosive division in Portland, Maine, Baltimore and Riverside, Calif. He also managed a DuPont plant in Hagerstown.

Born in Baltimore and raised in Guilford, he graduated from Towson High School in 1946. He earned a degree in business from the Johns Hopkins University.

Mr. Townsend served in the Marine Corps from 1946 to 1948. His wife of 42 years, Antoinette R. Klament, died in 1999.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Epiphany Episcopal Church, 2216 Pot Spring Road, Timonium.

He is survived by three daughters, Susan H. Townsend of Niskayuna, N.Y., Faith A. Townsend of Timonium and Stephanie S. Townsend of Baltimore; two brothers, William S. Townsend III of Fayetteville, N.C., and John P. Townsend of Whitehall, Pa.; and four grandchildren.