Kenyon “Ken” Harold Trout, 83, father of long time Mason Valley News/Leader-Courier reporter Keith Trout, died on July 5 in Modesto, Ca. due to complications of colon cancer surgery.
He was born on July 21, 1933, in Los Angeles to Charles Harold and Catherine Wolf Soemo. The family moved to Altadena when he was young. He suffered tragedy early in life as his father died in an automobile accident that also resulted in serious injuries to his older sister Margaret. Another sister died in a backyard accident before he was born. Ken was later adopted by his stepfather.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Margaret (Return) Moore (2015) and his wife Frances (2014).
Ken attended schools in Altadena and Pasadena and later earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1955. Just days after graduation he married his first wife, Mary, with whom he had five children. He played football, basketball and baseball during high school and played football and baseball at UCSB.
Ken began his love of the mountains, climbing in the San Gabriel mountains near his home as a boy. During college he enjoyed working summers in Yosemite, enhancing that love.
After earning his BA, Kenyon attended graduate school at San Jose State, earning a master’s in psychology. He then began his teaching career in Hayward before moving to his beloved mountains in 1958, living initially in Twain Harte, when he began at Sonora High School. He coached football for 20 years with the late Bud Castle and also coached basketball. During his early years teaching he served as manager of Twain Harte Lake.
Ken then moved closer to Sonora when his oldest daughter entered high school. He married fellow SHS teacher Frances in 1977.
Ken retired from SHS in 1988, after which he began contract work with truant teens with his long-time friend, the late Bob Buck. He then spent about 20 summers working as a painter at his beloved Kennedy Meadows.
In 2015, he married Janet Welbourn Rawe, whom he first met in junior high school in Pasadena, and moved to Modesto.
Ken is survived by his wife Janet and her family; eight children: Colleen (Jay) Trout of Colorado; Jerry (June) Fitch of Oklahoma; Karin (Dan) Baldwin of Turlock; Karen (Matt) Kuhlman of Sacramento; Keith (Teri) Trout of Nevada; Kelly (Anthony) Mena of Moccasin; Gary (Mary) Fitch of Missouri; and Kenyon (Cindy) Trout of Utah; 26 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and his first wife Mary Fitch of Sonora.
A graveside service will be held on August 10 and a celebration of life is scheduled for 3 p.m. Aug. 10 at Kennedy Meadows. The family requests donations be made to the American Cancer Society or to Sonora High School for a scholarship in his name.
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