Kenneth Norman “Ken” Zelepuza, 70, lifetime Aberdeen resident and former forklift driver at Weyerhaeuser’s Cosmopolis pulp mill, died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, at University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.

Ken was born on March 3, 1948, in Aberdeen, Wash., to Edward Theodore and Gertrude (Jones) Zelepuza. He graduated from Weatherwax High School and then joined the U.S. Air Force in September 1966. He was honorably discharged in 1970. He returned to Aberdeen where he worked for Weyerhaeuser’s Cosmopolis pulp mill for 35 years.

He was a member of the Aberdeen Eagles and enjoyed playing darts and being in a dart league. He also had a good time going to the casino to play the slot machines, eating lunch, playing games on the computer, traveling and spending time with his great-grandkids.

Ken is survived by two daughters: Teri M. (Morgan) Waite of Central Park and Dawn Dayton (Zelepuza) of Kansas, (Aberdeen); a sister, Shirley Bland of Hoquiam; three grandchildren: Kalee Dayton of Hoquiam, Morgann Waite and Landon Waite of Central Park; three great-grandchildren: Kameron, Addisyn and Riley Anderson of Hoquiam.

There will be a memorial service for him on Friday, Jan. 4, 2019, at 10 a.m. in Fern Hill Funeral Home’s Chapel. His ashes will be placed at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Wash.

Cremation arrangements are entrusted to Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen, Wash.