Obituary of Kenneth Leroy Caldwell

Kenneth Leroy Caldwell passes away peacefully in his sleep on June 4, 2019 after a long illness. Ken was born on August 17, 1943 in Washington, Iowa, the only child of Glen and Alice Caldwell. The family moved to Arizona where Ken attended Scottsdale High School where he played football and learned printing and photography. At sixteen, he opened Ye Olde Print Shoppe and took pictures of fatality accidents for the Arizona Highway Patrol. At seventeen, he enlisted in the Naval Reserve and served two years; after which he joined the Air Force and served another twenty. In December of 1963, Ken married Sharon Louise Taylor. They had three children and later divorced. On October 26, 1974, Ken married Frances Ellen Faust at the United Church of Christ in Earlville, Iowa. Throughout his military career, Ken worked as an illustrator, master instructor, loadmaster for a C-130 aircraft, and a computer systems analyst. Upon his Air Force retirement, Ken worked as a government contractor for Kaiser Engineers and Litton Computer Services as well as with his own company Data and Security Consultants. In 2001, he retired again to pursue fulltime RVing with Fran. They established a home in Mesa, Arizona prior to Ken”s cancer diagnosis. Ken loved to drive and see new things, play golf or go bowling, and spend time with family and friends. Ken is survived by his wife Fran; their two sons, Sean of Ft. Carson, Colorado and Alan (Louise) of Ft. Bliss, Texas and his children from his first marriage, Stacey (Greg) Smith, Cathy (Brett) Pohoreske, and Doug (Melinda) all of Texas; eight grandchildren, five great grandchildren and numerous cousins. Ken is preceded in death by his parents, aunts and uncles, his first wife Sherrie and cousins Mary and Keith Moore and Carolyn Fulton. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Hospice of the Valley or Full of Hope. Burial will be at the National Cemetery in Phoenix at a later date. The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Ironwood Cancer and Research Center (Arbor location), Banner Baywood ATU, and Hospice of the Valley who took such care of Ken.