Kenneth Shaddox

October 19, 1923 - March 15, 2022

Kenneth Shaddox, 98, passed away peacefully on March 15, 2022, at his home on the Illinois River in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He was born to Douglas and Effie Shaddox on October, 19, 1923 at the Pleasant Hill Ranger Station on the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas. Ken grew up primarily in Christie, Oklahoma and went to high school at Stillwell High School. Ken served proudly in a U.S. Army artillery battalion company in the French Alps during World War II and in Alaska during the Korean Conflict. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree at Oklahoma State University and his Master’s Degree in Agriculture at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Upon graduation he worked as a County Extension Agent in Ozark, AR. He was chief land appraiser for the U.S. Corp of Engineers in DeQueen, AR, and in Eufaula, Muskogee and Tulsa, OK until he retired in 1971. After retirement he continued to do contract appraisal work for the Corp and for various banks around Tahlequah for ten years. He married Peggy Pauline Brewer in January, 1949. They were married for 49 years, until Peggy’s death in 1998. Ken married Fern Hall, an old high school acquaintance, in 2001. They were married for 14 years until her death in 2015. Ken and Peggy took more than one extended camping trip out west during the summers to visit their daughter Kay in Fairbanks, AK and their son Troy and his family in Conconully, WA. Ken loved to fish and spent many days and nights camping and fishing on various rivers and lakes in Oklahoma and beyond. He also loved to garden and gave away bushels of home-grown tomatoes, green beans, and squash. He really looked forward to annual Shaddox family reunions and loved telling a good story while there. His story telling skills were renowned and a long, full, well-lived life provided him with plenty of interesting and funny material. Ken was a Christian man, a faithful servant of the Lord, and a longtime member of the Southside Baptist Church in Tahlequah, OK. His parents, his two wives, and three of his four siblings preceded him in death. Survivors include his daughter Kay Shaddox of Tahlequah, OK; his son Troy Shaddox and wife Susan, of Tonasket, WA; his granddaughter Grace Fifield and husband Ryan of Ellensburg, WA; grandson Samuel Shaddox and wife Morgan of Seattle WA; his sister Joan Shaddox Isom of Oklahoma City, OK; the extended family of Fern Hall Shaddox of Stillwell, OK and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Of special note is his beloved great granddaughter, six year old Lila Blue Fifield, of Ellensburg WA. In lieu of flowers, donations in Ken’s name can be made to the Southside Baptist Church, 300 Parker St. Tahlequah, OK 74464.