Kenneth Norris Zaring

Kenneth Norris Zaring, son of the American West, met his end on May 14, 2025. Born in Tucumcari, NM on February 22, 1939 to Burton Kenneth Zaring and Johne Parks Zaring, Ken grew up in Santa Rosa, Los Alamos, and Albuquerque, NM. He ran track and played football at Highland High School in Albuquerque, and played two years of football for Fort Lewis College and Texas Western University before enlisting in the Navy, where he flew C-130 transport flights during the Vietnam War. He married Linda Gray in 1965, moved to Littleton, CO, and flew as a commercial pilot for Continental Airlines before setting down his wings to pursue a career in commercial real estate, land management, and water resources acquisition.

Ken and Linda had two children, Keith and Whitney, and while the couple divorced, this family of four retained an uncommon and loving bond. Ken was always immensely proud of his children, and later his grandchildren Paige, Macy, and Vega, and his sentimental love was often on display, softening the edges of his cowboy demeanor and bringing a sparkle to his vivid blue eyes.

Ken collected good friends like treasures, and he kept in touch with his people as an abiding act of devotion. He was a prankster and a storyteller, and was always ready with his enthusiastic laughter. Often dressed in pressed Levi’s and cowboy boots, he was known as a great two-stepper, a lover of classical music and big dogs, an occasional duck hunter, a fantasy football devotee (long live the Zopilotes), an avid student of genealogy and the history of the American West, an appreciative observer of nature, and a lover of well-written words. He never skimped on delivering strong bear hugs and his signature smile, and the comfort of his presence will live on in the hearts of those who knew him. He will be sorely missed.