Ken Mckinnon #29, was born February 9, 1938 in Penticton B.C. In 1943, the family moved to Prince Rupert where he graduated from Booth Memorial Secondary in 1956. Throughout his life, Ken was involved in organizing reunions called Rupert nights, where old friends and classmates gathered to celebrate their Prince Rupert days.
Ken moved to Vancouver to attend UBC where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1963. During his UBC years and beyond, Ken showed a great interest in Musical Theatre as a member of the Music Society of UBC. Ken was an avid cast member and was a talented singer, dancer and producer in many MUSSOC productions from 1960 – 1978.
Did you know that Ken also enjoyed owning “muscle cars”??? unlike what he drove in his retirement years. He worked as an accountant with the North Vancouver School District until his retirement in 2009. Following retirement, Ken worked with the Vancouver Food Bank for 10 more years.
After University, Ken’s interests shifted to football. He was very highly respected in the B.C football community as a longtime football coach, administrator, educator, and official, starting in 1969 at Caldecott Park in Vancouver.
He coached for many years alongside his friend Jay Prepchuk at Windsor and Handsworth Secondary schools and was known to mentor Jay every week about Canadian rules when Jay was the UBC Thunderbirds Head Coach.
Ken officiated at the University level for over 20 years, Junior football for 29 years, High School and community over 40 years. He served as the treasurer and as an executive member for Football BC and the BCFOA for many, many years. In the computer era, it was nostalgic receiving your invoices from his ancient typewriter.
He also represented Football BC from 1970 to 2018 at the Football Canada National Conference.
This goes along with the fact that he was a part of the CFL TV crew for all the stadium game day positions for over 30 years and for the last ten years you would see Ken on the sideline with his headset at the Lions games as the CFL assistant replay coordinator.
Ken received many awards and acknowledgements including the 2010 BC Lions Orange Helmet Award in the Pioneer Category that recognizes individuals who have been instrumental in the development and promotion of amateur football in British Columbia. In 2012, the BCFOA honored him with a Lifetime Membership award. Ken was still a working official in High School football and part of the CFL sideline crew at B.C. Lions games when he unexpectedly passed on a game day.
You can say Ken spent the better part of a lifetime actively involved with football and proudly representing our association.
We will miss Ken’s kind, calming and soft speaking demeanor on and off the field. Those that were privileged enough to know him, knew that he was always committed to the task.
February 9, 1938 – October 11, 2022