Kenneth Michael Kucher

Ken was born in Vilna, Alberta to Kate and Alex Kucher, and moved at age 11 to Kelowna, BC. At Spring Valley High School he developed a group of friends that he would have and cherish for the rest of his life. He then worked in Calgary as a cartographer, and later moved to Drumheller where he became a founding employee of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, helping to build its first exhibits. He spent 18 years there as a palaeontological technician, a career he loved with co-workers he enjoyed. Ken was widely known for his skill as a top preparator and field technician, expertly collecting specimens and training a generation of young palaeontologists in fieldwork. All while having a lot of fun. He was very proud to have been selected to represent the museum at an exhibition in Japan. He was also a staff member of the Tyrrell's field experience program at Dinosaur Provincial Park where he met his wife, Gretchen.

In 2001, Ken moved to Seattle, and in 2002 they were married. Over the course of the next decade Ken was a contractor with his own business, Reprodactyl, Inc and did some of his most favorite projects, among them building a Supersaurus in Bynum, MT, the Blue Whale Project with Palcoprep of Drumheller, and working for the American Museum of Natural History on a travelling exhibition. He loved cooking and entertaining, travel around the deserts of the southwest, and being a proud Canadian living abroad. Ken was well known for his wry sense of humor, practical jokes and all around levity. Despite his illness, he never lost that sense of living for the moment and enjoying it. Those who know him, will miss him dearly.

Ken is survived by his wife, Gretchen, and his cat Weasel. He is also survived by his mother Kate Kucher, brothers Ron (Judy), and Allan (Donna) and sister-in-law Kris, along with nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and nephews, and mother in law Susan Marks. He was predeceased by his father Alec, sister Patricia and brother Doug.