WIDDOWSON, Kenneth John

12 tributes Leave your tribute

1. In Memoriam: Ken Widdowson

   18 March 2021

   “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
   President Barack Obama

   “It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
   KAHLIL GIBRAN, The Prophet

   ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’
   Margaret Mead

   ‘We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment’.
   Margaret Mead
   _____________________________________________________________

   My sincere and loving condolences for Jennifer McDonald and for Ken’s family.

   I am very saddened by his passing.

   Cheerful, hard-working and a skilled communicator, Ken was much appreciated and respected by myself and Walk in St Kilda Rd & Environs and the broad range of community groups, organisations and individuals who have been working along with Jennifer and Ken and particularly since 2018 to protect Fawkner Park and to ensure proper planning processes and community engagement before works are done there.

   We also worked together to protect and conserve Melbourne Observatory and will continue to do so and to further its potential nomination by Victoria and its listing as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

   We will proceed with our work in these places and in Domain Parklands knowing Ken still walks alongside us and we will share our victories with him.

   In sympathy and appreciation of an interesting, kind and community-oriented person who was committed to protecting and conserving the environment, parklands and places of community and heritage significance, and who was not afraid to speak up and use his voice, expertise and experience,

   Vale Ken!

   We have a legacy of your written submissions and we will continue to further your causes and community work. We will not give up on Fawkner Park, so dear to your heart, and its beautiful green grassed landscape you so loved and we will think of you and continue to feel, to know, you are part of the community team protecting this significant public parkland for current use and enjoyment and for posterity.

   We hold Ken’s memory in high regard,

   Not forgotten,

   Bea

   B. McNicholas

   Director, Walk in St Kilda Rd & Environs

   Friends of Fawkner Park
   Friends of Melbourne Observatory
   Melbourne’s Domain Parkland and Memorial Precinct

   B. McNicholas March 20 2021 3:51 pm

2. There are so many fond memories of Ken, when growing up in the UK it was so exciting when ‘Uncle Ken’ was coming to visit. Some exploits involved riding bikes around the back garden to working the gears on his car when we went for a drive (I was about 10 and you could get away with it then). That was so much fun that I refused to show him the way home one day and he did get a bit cranky on that occasion.

   Then he was integral in supporting Mum and I when moving out to Australia, finding us temporary accomodation while we searched for a house and a school. He met us at the airport and took us straight down to Forrest to the farm, that was 1987 and I’ve loved it down there ever since and still have a strong connection. He taught me to drive on Fergie tractor, and then I became his designated ‘L’ driver when he had a cataract condition and I’d drive him down to the farm almost every weekend getting up needed driving experience. He was always so patient, a great teacher and added a sense of fun to everything we did. I will miss him dearly but he is now at peace, the pain and frustration he endured over the recent months has gone.

   Bec Caskey March 21 2021 1:12 pm

3. RIP Ken
   A man who lived life to the absolute fullest
   A man with so many different talents
   We are the lucky ones to have had you in our lives

   A very good friend to my mother and father
   Frank and Jean Whitehead , you will be sadly missed .
   Thank you Ken for filming my wedding on the Gold Coast Burleigh Headland and being part of my life xx
   Kate whitehead

   Kate whitehead March 21 2021 5:12 pm

4. Thank you for enriching our lives. You loved your family and friends and being at your beloved farm at Forrest.

   Your corn boils and Christmas parties were legendary over the years.

   Our lives have been better for having known you. We will miss you, dear family friend.

   Susan, Tony and Will McGann

   Susan McGann March 21 2021 7:06 pm

5. Ken was an enthusiastic member of our book club in Forrest for years and played amazing piano. He also hired a bus to take a large group of us to a performance of “The Merry Widow” in Melbourne. He was a very generous and talented man and a very valued part of our Forrest community. May he rest in peace.

   Jan Ratcliff March 21 2021 9:09 pm

6. Rest peacefully Ken. My thoughts are with your family.????

   Rob Dixon March 21 2021 9:58 pm

7. A beautiful gentleman who regularly shared so much local history with our school community over many years. Ken will be sadly missed. Our thoughts are with the Widdowson family. Kind regards Forrest Primary School Community

   Darryl Harty March 22 2021 9:36 am

8. The Buckley family send condolences to the Widdowson family. Joyce and Bert are in their mid 90’s but remember Ken fondly. Ken was always encouraging of other people’s achievements and his enthusiasm and love of history was so positive and inspiring.

   Rachel Buckley March 22 2021 1:24 pm

9. A great man. Kind , generous, wise. He was interested in so many things. His opinion was always worth listening to.

   John JAMES March 24 2021 10:21 am

10. Condolences to all the family of Ken. I have just found out about his passing away. I came to know Ken through working with him typing up his audio recordings over past few years. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

    Mary Jordon March 24 2021 4:01 pm

11. I worked with Ken at EMA many years ago. He was a true visionary, way ahead of his time with his ideas for media in education. He contributed enormously to this industry. Thank you for that Ken.

    Heather Judd March 25 2021 11:14 am

12. I knew Ken professionally as a gifted educator, talented film producer and a pioneer of audio visual education, whose films were enjoyed by thousands of children in classrooms around Australia. He also became a close family friend, and we always enjoyed the time we spent with him as he shared his Renaissance-like love of science, nature, music and the arts. He encouraged our children’s musical pursuits, and would not hesitate to travel over to Perth to help us celebrate significant birthdays. He will be sadly missed.

    Tony Dean May 22 2021 2:09 am