NOVEMBER 9, 1928 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2022
We are sad to share the news that Kenneth Richard Wright passed away on September 8, 2022 in his 94th year. With family by his side, Ken peacefully left us to carry on growing and nurturing the family he loved.
The son of Melvin and Edith Wright, Ken was born on November 9, 1928 in Winnipeg. An only child for seven years, Ken was delighted when sister Barbara arrived. He always wanted a big family and together with Jane, his wife of 57 years, they had six children. They, in turn, gave Ken and Jane 14 grandchildren. Ken was extremely proud of his family and delighted to have known eight great-grandchildren in his lifetime.
Ken had a storied career in advertising, sales and marketing which took him all over the world and ignited his passion for travel. He worked in broadcasting, media and publishing, cutting his teeth at radio station CFAR in Flin Flon, then overseas to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London. Returning to Canada, Ken honed his skills at several eminent advertising firms. At the height of his career, Ken held various senior marketing positions at the Financial Post and started a telemarketing division for Telemedia. Ken capped his marketing career at MacLean Hunter as Publisher of several business journals and as a founding member of the Canadian Congress of Advertising. As this wasn’t challenging enough, Ken established a family bakery business with Jane and their sons which operated for a decade. After retiring from publishing, Ken leveraged his marketing expertise to develop Southworks Outlet Mall with his son John and consulted to many other small businesses.
Ken was predeceased by his wife, Jane Rosamund Wright (Bell), in December, 2009. In 2011, a chance meeting brought Grace Goldberg into his life. Grace has been his cherished partner and companion bringing love and joy to Ken for nearly 11 years. Left to mourn Ken’s passing are his sister, Barbara Stuber, partner Grace Goldberg, children and their spouses; Christine and John MacLeod, John Wright and Jen German-Wright, Elizabeth and Ted Paling, Mark and Janet Wright, Toni Wright, Peter and Britta Wright; grandchildren their spouses/partners and children, Gwyn and Reza Ramezan (Juliet, Isobel), Julia and Jordan Brown (Jack, Henry, Diana, Ivar), Meg Wright and Naomi Dubs, Max Wright, Tessa and Ed Niemchak (Eamon and Claire), Anne Paling and Zack Buchanan, Emma Paling, Kiera Wright and Ryan Fleisher, Creedance Wright, Ashna Wright and Jacob Popper, River Wright, Flynn Wright, Jacob Wright and Juliana Gamboa Arbelaez, Madison Wright and Alexander Gutheil. Ken’s passions and hobbies were pretty clear. He and Jane were avid collectors; they both had a good eye for fine antiques, art, books, glass paperweights and other collectables. They enjoyed travelling and discovering new places, cultures and history. Ken continued to enjoy all these pleasures with Grace by his side. Ken also dedicated time and energy to his community. He started a professional community theatre and was instrumental in bringing the Drayton Theatre to Cambridge. He raised funds and served on the Board of the Cambridge Community Foundation for many years.
Ken’s greatest curiousity in life was family background. This fuelled his interest in discovering his family history and meeting distant relatives. Ken researched his family’s genealogy extensively and met hundreds of wonderful, interesting people – all part of his multi-generational, large family. If we mentioned travel plans, Ken invariably asked us to look up so-and-so, with whom he shared a great-great-grandfather or other distant connection. Earlier this year, Ken was ecstatic to publish a memoir and short history of our family – a realisation of decades of work and a truly great accomplishment!
The family would like to extend our deepest appreciation and thanks to the dedicated and caring staff at Stirling Heights Long-term Care Home, who shared kindness and humour with Ken during his time there and eased him peaceably to the end.
Arrangements are entrusted to Coutts Funeral Home, 96 St. Andrews St., Cambridge. A Celebration of Life is being planned for late October with details to come. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Jane and Ken Wright Family Fund, Waterloo Region Community Foundation.
“I feel my life has been one of discovery: meaningful and happy.”
From Ken’s Memoir
