Obituary: Canfield, Kenneth Ray
Age 66
Ken was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September and spent his last three days at Hospice of Spokane.
When it was his time to “pull pitch” and go to Heaven, there were family and friends with him including his wife, his three sons, his two sisters and his mom.
Born to Roy and Edna Canfield on November 29, 1948, Ken was the oldest of three children.
He grew up in the Spokane Valley, attending University High School where he played football.
As a teenager, Ken learned to snow ski and continued to do so for more than 40 years.
After high school, he attended Eastern Washington State College.
Ken served his country in the Army as a helicopter mechanic in Vietnam.
Upon returning from the service, Ken spent some years working on the Alaska Pipeline.
When he returned to the Spokane area he purchased 200 acres of farmland near Springdale, WA.
Ken was born to be a farmer and loved every minute of the 35 plus years he was steward of his land.
He was “mechanic extraordinaire” and there was no piece of farm equipment he couldn’t fix, nor any type of machinery he couldn’t operate.
He was always willing to share his mechanical gift and help others.
Ken cared greatly for others, including those of school age.
He served on the Mary Walker School District Board from 1993 thru 2009, the last 10 years as Board Chair.
Besides passing on his knowledge to his three sons, he routinely hired high school aged boys to work at the farm.
He taught them well and helped them find talents they didn’t know they had.
Those boys left the farm with money in their pocket and priceless experience.
Ken also served his community during the 80s and 90s as a volunteer firefighter.
During winters he worked in his shop repairing his and other’s equipment and when not there, he could be found at the ski hill 49 Degrees North.
For more than 30 years, he was a pro-patrol on the mountain.
When he finally left the ski patrol, he took with him enough crazy stories to fill a book and a heart full of life long friends he made from the patrol.
Being a farmer, he was never really caught up, but sometimes he would take a break to “poke holes in the clouds” in his Cessna 180.
He was always willing and eager to share the flying experience with family or friends, and more often than not, insisted that those family or friends, “take the controls.
You can do it.”
Ken always had great confidence in himself and others.
Ken was preceded in death by his father Roy in 1981.
He is survived by his wife Sue, his mom Edna Canfield, sons Brad (Theresa) Canfield, Jeff (Mandy) Canfield and Matt (Laura) Woods, and sisters Mary (Kevin) Hutchings, Donna (Tom) Adams.
Other family members include nieces Christine Schmidt and Alicia Marlow; and nephew Jason Kimbrell.
His grandchildren are Rylie, Jerimiah, Lane, Vera, Baby Yet to Be Named, and another to be born in July.
A Ken Canfield Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established to benefit graduating seniors at Mary Walker High School.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made at any Spokane Teachers Credit Union branch.
A celebration of Ken’s life will be held at Mary Walker High School, Springdale, WA on April 4, 2015 at 11 a.m.