It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Ken Blackwood on March 28, 2023, one day after his 89th birthday.
Ken was an independent renaissance man. He was a world traveller, musician, folk dancer, teacher, environmentalist, citizen scientist, photographer, climber, skier, four season bike rider, fencer, carpenter, baker, frequent library patron, and cat enthusiast. He volunteered with many organizations including the Alpine Club of Canada, the Canmore Folk Music Festival, Parks Canada, the Seniors Association, Community Cruisers, and the Bow Valley Clean Air Society.
Born March 27, 1934 in Dunedin, New Zealand, Ken apprenticed with a local printer and worked as a Hand Compositor and Stonehand. In 1955 he travelled to the UK where he lived and worked until 1963. For the next four years he motorcycled and hitchhiked across Europe to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Singapore, Java, Australia and finally back to New Zealand where he worked as a guide and ski patrol and spent two seasons as a field leader on a research ship to Antarctica.
Drawn by the climbing, hiking and skiing potential of our local mountains Ken settled in Canmore in 1974, working at Sunshine and the Banff Centre until his retirement in 1999. A fiercely independent person, he skied and hiked the backcountry well into his 80s. He lived in his own house until the fall of 2021 when he moved into Origin at Spring Creek.There he continued to build things in the workshop, meet with the Canmore Drumming Group, and serve as President of the Bow Valley Clean Air Society. He was out riding his e-bike two weeks before his final few days at Foothills Hospital in Calgary.
Ken is survived by his niece, Sharon Barnes, and many family members in New Zealand. He will likewise be greatly missed by all who knew him in Canada.
Friends of Ken are invited to gather at the Mine Shaft on Sunday April 16 at 6pm to toast a most extraordinary individual.
