Edward “Ken” Kenneth Sheldon

1953-2021

Edward “Ken” Kenneth Sheldon, 67, of Rockaway, Oregon died in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, February 21, 2021.

Ken was born in Portland, Oregon on November 4, 1953. Being the oldest of four siblings, Ken took a strong role in helping to care for them, by being a positive role model. Ken loved to read. His favorite books were of the science fiction genre. While in high school, Ken took diving lessons with his father. They both became certified divers and spent many happy days diving together along the Oregon coast. Ken always loved the outdoors. He especially loved fishing, hiking and camping with his family. Ken graduated from Benson Tech high school and continued on to receive a Bachelor’s in the field of Geology from Portland State University. He then moved to Denver, Colorado to continue his education at the Colorado School of Mines.

Ken was married to Gloria Lazuran on July 5, 1980, in Gloria’s family church. In June of 1983, they welcomed their son, Tyler.

While at the Colorado School of Mines, Ken met and became a close friend to Eric Oberbeck. Ken started working for Eric in 1984 at Contract Geological Services. He loved working outdoors, hiking and surveying through the mountains, forests, and desert terrains. He often would find himself surveying in caves for gold and silver deposits.

Ken and his family later moved to Sparks, Nevada. After a couple of years, Ken was able to create his own surveying company, Pacific Rim Explorations. A few years later, the price of gold and silver dropped dramatically, so Ken could no longer make a livable wage for his family being a self-employed Geologist.

He spent 19 years as an employee of the Orkin Pest Control Company. Ken also joined the American Mountain Men (AMM) brotherhood and the Lakes Crossing Muzzleloaders in 1989. Here, Ken could surround himself with fellow outdoorsmen (and women) who also loved nature and spending time outside. Ken loved going to the AMM and Muzzleloaders’ rendezvous and gatherings. The friends he met and shared so many wonderful experiences with through these two groups soon became his family. Ken would share stories with us about the adventures he had with his comrades which, often, had us laughing and feeling thankful for these memories and experiences. Ken also became a Burning Man enthusiast. For many years he attended and wholly participated in the Burning Man experience on the Black Rock Desert (or Playa) in Nevada.  He found another extended family at these gatherings. He took his nieces, first Shannon then, a couple of years later, Laura with him to Burning Man. Both of them built beautiful, lifelong memories during the time they spent in the desert with Ken.

Ken is survived by his three siblings, brother Steven Sheldon and sisters Suzanne Sheldon and Elizabeth Kavanagh, his nieces Laura Davis and Shannon Kavanagh, his nephew Sean Kavanagh and Aurora Davis, his grandniece, many cousins and extended family and friends.

Ken is preceded in death by his wife Gloria Sheldon and son Tyler Sheldon, his parents Edward Sheldon and Alta Sheldon, and his sister Cheryl Sheldon.

Ken’s wishes were to be cremated, with no funeral services. On March 1, 2021, those wishes were carried out at the Omega Funeral & Cremation Home in Portland, Oregon.  Ken wanted to continue to help people even after death, so he donated organs and tissues to other people and to research.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the American Mountain Men brotherhood or the Lakes Crossing Muzzleloader society. The family of Ken Sheldon wishes to thank the Omega Funeral & Cremation Home for their respectful care of Ken and kindness to us, his family. We would also like to extend our deep thank you to Ken’s extended family and friends he found in the American Mountain Men brotherhood, the Lake Crossing Muzzleloaders society and through his Burning Man experiences.