Skip to content
May 26, 1932 - April 14, 2022
With sadness, the family of Gerald Kenneth Cottrill announces his passing on April 14. 2022 in Penticton, BC. We want to leave this remembrance of him as he was so dear to us.
Ken was raised in a family of 8 children in North Bay, Ontario and was well known on its streets as a seller of its daily newspaper, the Nugget. The day he remembered the most was VE day near the end of WWII when he sold papers and celebrated on the streets with the rest of his neighbours.
He met his wife Esther through his sisters and married her in 1956. They moved west and raised their four children in Kelowna and then later in Summerland, British Columbia. In his retirement he spent time in Grand Forks and Keremeos.
Ken appreciated the value of hard work and loved his job as a building contractor. He built his first house at 22 and it became a lifelong vocation. With his contracting company and on his own he built hundreds of homes in the Okanagan Valley, but the best were the ones he built for his family. The most unique was an eco-friendly "earth-sheltered" home that he built in 1978 in Summerland BC.
Gardening was another passion in his life. This started when as a teenager he took over the family vegetable garden for his father who travelled to Newfoundland and worked as a mechanic during World War II. He and Esther beautified the various properties they owned in the Okanagan with fruit trees and flowers and huge vegetable gardens.
Ken is predeceased by his wife Esther (March 1932 - Jan 2022) and leaves behind a son, Tim Cottrill of Keremeos BC, and daughters Anna Larkin of Calgary, Alberta, Deborah Harmon of Frisco Texas and KC Brock of Nanaimo, BC.
They and their families will always hold him dear in their hearts as a living memorial.


Your condolences will be approved within one business day. You will need a valid Facebook account. Please email us if you have any questions.