Kenneth Joseph Verdon, a certified public accountant and a former hospital administrator, died Sunday in Helena after a long illness.He was 49.
Mr. Verdon was born in Libby, and he moved to Helena as a junior in high school, graduating from Helena High School in 1981. He graduated from the University of Montana in 1985 with a degree in accounting.
He started his career as an auditor specializing in the Medicare program and worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Montana. He later was employed in accounting and finance at hospitals in Montana, Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico.
Mr. Verdon was an avid sports fan, especially devoted to the University of Montana Grizzlies, and followed the Minnesota Vikings football team.
He is survived by his mother, Elaine Verdon of Helena; a sister in Virginia, Lexie Verdon Barr; brothers Robert and Tim in Texas and Mike in Missoula. His father, Paul Verdon, died in February 2012.
A memorial service celebrating Ken’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, January 25, 2013 at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home, 3750 N. Montana Ave. The family suggests, in lieu of flowers, that contributions be made to the University of Montana or a charity of the donor’s choice.
Service Schedule
Funeral Service
11:00 a.m.
Friday January 25, 2013
Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home
3750 N. Montana Ave.
Helena, Montana 59602
Service Schedule
Funeral Service
11:00 a.m.
Friday January 25, 2013
Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home
3750 N. Montana Ave.
Helena, Montana 59602
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Scott MacDonald says
Very sorry to hear this news. My condolences to the Verdon family and specifically the brothers with whom we MacDonald brothers shared neighborhood play in Libby. Whiffle Ball, basketball, bikes, start-o-matic and all the wonderful aspects of being raised in a small town of love and trust. My best to all- I wish you all peace.
“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves memories no one can steal”.
Doug Stipcich says
Words will never be able to replace the void that has recently been left in my heart with Ken’s passing. I think that Scott MacDonald’s final line on his posting sums this situation up very well. I will see each of you later this week and one day will join Ken again. Please try to rest comfortably knowing that Ken will always be in my thoughts and prayers.
Rest in peace my friend. Rest in peace.
Kerry Tousignant says
Love to all the Verdons and extended family. I’ll be thinking of you all come Friday. Prayers are coming your way!
James Mee says
Dear Verdons,
We wish you to know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. Ken and your family were important to Libby when you lived here. May God be with you all at this time.
Gail (Hendrickson) Baldridge says
I know the pain and grief of losing a brother. It leaves a hole in your heart that can only be filled with years of good memories and knowing that you will see him again. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Ron Telles says
Dear Verdons,
I am so sorry to hear that Kenneth (as I use to call him) has passed. I worked with Kenneth at Carson Tahoe Hospital in Carson City, NV. In fact, I hired him. I will always remember his humor, his stories of Montana, his relaxed manner and his restless leg! I swear, his leg would move a thousand miles a minute and he was sitting down!! He was a pleasure to work with and a joy to hang out with. My deepest condolences. Everyday I hope that your heart heals a little bit more.
RIck Smoot says
I am very sorry to hear about Ken. Prayers and thoughts to the Verdon family for your loss. The first time I really met Ken was when all 6th graders went to Asa Wood. I got a call from him one night and he told me that I was 3rd in scoring in the school baskteball league. I never knew anyone was keeping track but that was Kenny’s thing. The kid could roll off stat’s out of thin air. I’ll always remember his laughter and humor. May God bless you and his loving hands heal you and your heavy hearts
Todd Gehrke says
Unfortunately I didn’t see Ken since the 20 year reunion, and even then I didn’t see him until the night was almost over. We had a great chat though and we both promised to stay in touch, but unfortunately we didn’t.
I do remember Ken as a great friend in college and in high school. We had quite a rivalry in being stats geeks and him being the one that introduced me to Stratomatic football. He played in a keeper league so of course he had Walter Payton, Franco Harris, and the Steeler defense. We met in the championship game he he told me beforehand that Walter Payton was going to run all over my D. Of course Franco Harris ran for a couple hundred yards and he beat me easily.
He was a Viking fan and I was a Dodger fan, and he liked the Vikings and I liked the Cowboys, so there was always a heated debate between us about who was better. One common argument was always who was better between Pedro Bourbon and Don Sutton. Years later I joked with him about that and he said “Of course Sutton was better, but no way I could give you that back then though.”
We played on a couple very good intramural teams @ UM and made the championship game in football, softball, and basketball. Unfortunately we were like his beloved Minnesota Vikings and didn’t win one of them, but we still had a great time. If memory serves he is the one that gave me the nickname “The Gerk!” which Junior and Fritz possibly over used but it still made me feel like I had my own little fan club.
In one of our intramural football games we had a guy show up and started yelling at me from the sidelines to “Play up closer!” I played a center field free safety was just ignoring him as I had been doing pretty well with a 5 interception game that year which the new guy was not at. He kept yelling and finally Ken had enough and told him to “Shut up, he knows what he’s doing.” That meant a lot to me to hear validation from Ken as I respected his opinion on sports as much as anyone.
Blue skies Ken, it was far too long but you were a very meaningful friend in my life.
Darren Walsh says
So sorry to hear of the passing of Ken Verdon. Way too young. I always remember that Ken had a gentle spirit and a great younger brother to his family. The world will miss him.
Clark Fair says
Although I did not know Ken, I roomed for a year with Tim at UM back in the early ’80s. My condolences to the entire Verdon family.
Ann Hennessey says
I posted a comment at the end of the obit in the Helena paper. I met Ken at Helena High when he was the new kid hanging out during lunch in the library. I forced him to eat lunch with us. Later he would come out to Lockey Park to cheer me on when I played high school tennis. He bought me ice cream. When I was heading into my dorm for the first time at U of M and scared to death, someone stuck his head out a window and yelled to me. It was Ken. Ken tried hard to keep my checkbook balanced. It used to drive him crazy that I rounded off numbers. He would stay up all night to balance a penny and didn’t understand why I didn’t care. Ken — I still round off the numbers. Sorry. I remember he defended me against a mean kid in our dorm, too. He was a good person.
Fritz Neighbor says
It was with great sadness but also a few smiles that I learned of Ken’s passing. He was a guy who blurred his words when he got excited, and he got excited a lot — especially when the Griz were winning and even more so when Rob Hurley was on. I’m digging around for that shot of “The Zoo” that ran in the Missoulian theyday after a basketball game at Dahlberg. Ken was front and center, high-fiving Dave Smith. There were quite a few of us from second floor Knowles Hall that would trudge over to the game hours before tip-off, rooting on the Cubs JV team before the main event. If the Griz were on the road Ken’s room was a common place to “watch” the game on the radio. It was there we listened to the Griz wallop Idaho in 1983. In his post-game Bill Schwanke announced that Hurley scored 19 points and Ken started jumping around on his bed and, amazingly, sat on this big goblet on the head board. Ken made it through; the schoonie didn’t. I could go on and on about the guy, boring you with our epic one-on-one, asthmatic vs. asthmatic basketball game in the early 80s, but I won’t (he won). He was hilarious and I wish I’d seen more of the man in the preceding years. Rest well, Ken. We miss you.
Dawn Wishman says
I am so sorry. I am so overwhelmed with a heavy, heavy sadness. Please know that I never stopped loving Ken. I never stopped caring about him or worrying about him. I am so glad that he is finally at peace and can rest. I will never forget him and I will never forget his loving family. I hope that you all can find peace with this.
BOB R MCOLLOM says
DEAR ELAINE
IM SO SORRY AT THE LOSS OF YOUR SON, GOD HAS HIS REASONS SOME TIMES NOT KNOWN TO US I WILL ALWAYS REMBER THE OLD DAYS IN MALTA, WHEN YOU AN PAUL WERE JUST GETTING YOUR LIFE TOGATHER STARTED, AN OUR LIVES IN LIBBY A LONG TIME AGO, GOD LOVES YOU. ALL OF THE MCCOLLOM FAMILIES
BOB R MCOLLOM says
GOD LOVE YOU, REMBER THERES ALWAYS A REASON FOR THESE THINGS .
Todd Miller says
My most sincere condolences to Ken’s family and friends. It’s a couple weeks now since his service, and I am still struggling with coming to terms with his passing, as I am sure we all are. I want to thank the Verdon family for hosting the get-together at Bert & Ernies. It afforded all of us the opportunity to reconnect and share memories of Ken.
Ken was a sports nut for sure, but some of my fondest memories of being with Ken were when we just hung out and listened to records. A couple times in high school we stayed up all night drinking Dr. Pepper and listening to Bill Cosby records, periodically leaving his house to race around town on my motorcycle. At 3am in Libby, the roads were pretty much empty. Mike (correctly) thought we were crazy. In 218 Knowles we listened to a lot of Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffet, Lynard Skynard, etc. Ken had a great appreciation for music, but was a work in progress with his performance skills. At breakfast in the cafeteria one morning (Ken: two bowls of frosted flakes, no milk), Rocky Raccoon started playing over the sound system and Ken started singing along. Tim, with his sharp wit, noted “That song sure took a turn for the worse.” We all cracked up.
Ken was the guy I could sit with for hours either talking/arguing or in a comfortable silence. Leaving Ken and Doug’s apartment in Great Falls after a weekend visit, it was “Okay. See ya.” as if I was just making a run to the store. With Ken the conversation never ended; there were just station breaks. I guess the station break may be a little longer this time. Until then, buddy, know I will being thinking of you, as I always have, whenever I play the old records. Peace be with you, Ken.
Denise (Waldron) Snyder says
My sincere condolences and prayers go out to the Verdon family. Todd Miller tracked me down and shared the sad news of Ken’s passing. My heart has been heavy for days and my mind has been full of cherished memories from our childhood.
Ken brought pure joy to my childhood. He always had a smile for me, words of support and encouragement (especially when I was cut from the basketball team) and of course some fun with a prank or joke thrown in too. We had great talks during our walks to and from school. He made me laugh a lot. The only time I was able to pull a joke on him was his 15th birthday when my mom baked him a cake that we shared in geometry class. When he cut into it he laughed as the cake inside was an ugly blue. My mom knew he was a prankster too.
Ken and I shared the love of baseball and he harassed me constantly about the KC Royals. We watched games together at the ballpark and teamed up to debate the free agent draft against a couple of our classmates. I can’t remember if we won but do remember how fun it was preparing for the debate with Ken. That wasn’t the only time we teamed up on school work. In high school we helped each other out with a book report – poor Ken, my report for him was a lower grade then the one he did for me. We figured Mrs. Fields had it in for him.
It was hard for both Todd and I when Ken left Libby part way through high school. We missed him a lot and I recall us gathering at my house to phone him on his first birthday in Helena. Once I visited Ken in Helena and he introduced me to his friend Pam. She and I attended MSU so the 2 of us Bobcats became arch rivals to Ken and his Grizzlies.
Even though Ken and I lost touch over the past few years I thought of him often and especially on his birthday. The individuals who touch our lives in a positive and loving way remain with us forever and Ken was one of those individuals for me. Rest in peace my dear friend. When I close my eyes I will forever see your warm and loving smile!