Kenneth A. Weisenburger

We are sad to share that Ken Weisenburger passed away on November 9, 2024, at the age of 73, at Whatcom Hospice House with his wife and daughter by his side. Diagnosed with Stage 4 Cholangiocarcinoma (Bile Duct Cancer) in May 2024, he battled bravely but ultimately succumbed to the aggressive cancer.

A lifelong resident of Whatcom County, Ken was a Valentine’s Day baby born February 14, 1951, to Harold and Phyllis (Jenkins) Weisenburger.

In his childhood, he was surrounded by close friends and family, running around the Alderwood neighborhood. With cousins from the next neighborhood over, he often found himself at his aunt and uncles, which was a second home to him. In the summer, he looked forward to days out at Lake Samish, spending time with the other side of the family running the hills up behind their house and swimming in the lake during the day. He often looked fondly back on those carefree days of childhood.

As he got older and interests started taking shape, the happiest place on earth was Arlington Speedway watching the drag races. The sheer speed and far out design had him hooked for life. Car racing in various forms held his interest throughout his life, even watching the last couple of NASCAR and drag races in his final days. During his daughter’s childhood, he used to take her out to Skagit and Deming Speedway to watch the open-wheel cars race nearly weekly during the summer.

Following graduation from Bellingham High School in 1969, he spent a summer fishing in the San Juan Islands (skiff man) on a seine boat and after, planting trees in the foothills for a short time. In October of 1971, he hired on at the Intalco Aluminum Smelter where he spent 44 years until his retirement in spring of 2016, right before the birth of his second granddaughter.

Living in Ferndale, in 1976, he was introduced to Bonnie Blankenship and it didn’t take long to figure out she would be the woman he would spend the rest of his life with. Married in May of 1977, they spent 47 years together and it still wasn’t enough time. Ken and Bonnie had a daughter, Lorena Ann (Annie) in November of 1978, and he proved to be an amazing girl dad. As a family, they enjoyed traveling, including memorable trips to Glacier, California, and Yellowstone, as well as local jaunts around the Pacific Northwest. The family enjoyed wildlife and bird watching and Ken was a fervent advocate for the reintroduction of grizzly bears into the North Cascades. Ken supported his daughter by watching her softball matches in childhood and band and colorguard at Ferndale High School. He truly supported pretty much anything she did and figured she’d learn from her mistakes on the not so smart choices. He thought she could do anything and would scoff when she thought she couldn’t.

Throughout his life he maintained a number of interests and amassed a library of books on the subjects he loved. His book collection is the tangible legacy of these interests. When Ken was interested in something, it wasn’t just a passing curiosity. It was a deep investigation into the subject, learning nearly all that could be learned. He has often been described as a walking encyclopedia, enjoying a near photographic memory. His interests ranged from locomotives (especially steam), fishing boats (especially seine), and motorcycles (especially custom Harleys) to jet planes (even deciding on a new favorite in his last week of life), Samurai (Shogun – second time around was the last book he finished), and perhaps above all antique and contemporary 18th century American long rifles. He was very proud that his 100+ books on these special guns will find a new home at the Hershel House Foundation, a foundation dedicated to the preservation of the craft, in Woodbury, Kentucky. Ken appreciated craftsmanship and had the eye of a curator.

After retirement, Ken met up regularly with a close group of work buddies and played pool and cornhole, all of them enjoying their well-deserved retirement from the aluminum smelter. Ken and Bonnie deeply enjoyed their two granddaughters, picking them up from school and sharing a meal with them, while Ken shared his lifetime of knowledge and experience with them, solicited or not. Ken was so proud of his granddaughters and their accomplishments and just the people that they are. Ken and Bonnie fell into an easy retirement, unburdened from their working life. They traveled most Fridays down to Skagit County, where depending on the season, they would watch the snow geese and eagles or the boats being built in Anacortes, and always enjoying a favorite restaurant along the way. It was this life that he continued to say how lucky he had been and how lucky he was to have Bonnie and his daughter with him. We feel the same way.

Ken is survived by his wife, Bonnie, daughter Lorena Ann Shah and son-in-law Syed (Sameer) Shah, granddaughters Amina and Anum Shah, his sister Ellen and brother-in-law Verne Barnhill and numerous cousins. He is predeceased by his father Harold and mother Phyllis Weisenburger.

We would like to thank the staff of Whatcom Hospice House for the incredible care that he (and his immediate family) received during his two weeks there. He never stopped saying how cool you all were.

A Celebration of Life will be held November 21, 2024, at 1pm, at Cordata Park Pavilion, 4530 Cordata Parkway. Ken will be buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in a private graveside service at a later date.

Memorials may be made to Home Range Wildlife Research, a research-based wildlife conservation nonprofit nestled in the North Cascades, an ecosystem he dearly loved. https://www.homerange.org