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http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/nov/10/ ... lingsobit/
Colorful Everglades guide dies at 74
By Joe Crankshaw (Contact)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
PORT ST. LUCIE — One of Florida's most colorful Everglades hunting and fishing guides, Ken Killingsworth, 74, will be celebrated in funeral services at 2 p.m. Sunday in the First Baptist Church in Port St. Lucie.
Killingsworth, who spent 50 years guiding and hunters and fishermen in the vast, watery wilderness, died Tuesday following a yearlong illness.
"He was a wonderful man," said his wife of 51 years, Maxine. "We grew together. He was always doing something exciting." She recalled the time the couple took off on a motorcycle vacation through the United States and Canada.
Born and raised in Miami, Killingsworth went into the Army in 1952. When he was discharged, he took a job as an aircraft engine mechanic for Pan American Airways, according to his grandson, Jason, who has authored several articles for sports magazines about his grandfather.
Invited on an airboat ride in the 'Glades, he was hooked. He liked the fishing and duck hunting, and built his own airboat. He teamed up with another guide, Earl Moore, but eventually set himself up taking duck hunting parties out. When Pan Am went bankrupt in 1989, he went into business building small aircraft, and, according to his wife, doing a lot of other things.
"He was a diver, and we never lacked for fresh fish," she said, "and for a while he worked for insurance companies recovering bodies from airplanes and boats in the water. But he told me he couldn't take it and quit that work."
Killingsworth's underwater skills also landed him jobs in the Miami film industry helping with ocean scenes for "Lord of the Flies" and "Sharks Treasure," as well as several segments of the television nature show "Wild Kingdom." His wife says he had a lot of fun when given the chance to play a drug dealer smuggling drugs inside fish for the television series "Miami Vice."
"They dyed his hair jet black, put a lot of jewelry on him, and let be involved in a shoot out with the one of the stars, Don Johnson," said Maxine Killingsworth.
Killingsworth and his wife retired to Port St. Lucie in 1993, and he continued working at various jobs until a year ago when he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
He is survived by his wife, two sons, Greg and Troy, a daughter, Kelli Howard, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild.
The First Baptist Church is located at 115 N.E. Salida Drive, Port St. Lucie. Memorial contributions my be made to Treasure Coast Hospice.
Colorful Everglades guide dies at 74
By Joe Crankshaw (Contact)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
PORT ST. LUCIE — One of Florida's most colorful Everglades hunting and fishing guides, Ken Killingsworth, 74, will be celebrated in funeral services at 2 p.m. Sunday in the First Baptist Church in Port St. Lucie.
Killingsworth, who spent 50 years guiding and hunters and fishermen in the vast, watery wilderness, died Tuesday following a yearlong illness.
"He was a wonderful man," said his wife of 51 years, Maxine. "We grew together. He was always doing something exciting." She recalled the time the couple took off on a motorcycle vacation through the United States and Canada.
Born and raised in Miami, Killingsworth went into the Army in 1952. When he was discharged, he took a job as an aircraft engine mechanic for Pan American Airways, according to his grandson, Jason, who has authored several articles for sports magazines about his grandfather.
Invited on an airboat ride in the 'Glades, he was hooked. He liked the fishing and duck hunting, and built his own airboat. He teamed up with another guide, Earl Moore, but eventually set himself up taking duck hunting parties out. When Pan Am went bankrupt in 1989, he went into business building small aircraft, and, according to his wife, doing a lot of other things.
"He was a diver, and we never lacked for fresh fish," she said, "and for a while he worked for insurance companies recovering bodies from airplanes and boats in the water. But he told me he couldn't take it and quit that work."
Killingsworth's underwater skills also landed him jobs in the Miami film industry helping with ocean scenes for "Lord of the Flies" and "Sharks Treasure," as well as several segments of the television nature show "Wild Kingdom." His wife says he had a lot of fun when given the chance to play a drug dealer smuggling drugs inside fish for the television series "Miami Vice."
"They dyed his hair jet black, put a lot of jewelry on him, and let be involved in a shoot out with the one of the stars, Don Johnson," said Maxine Killingsworth.
Killingsworth and his wife retired to Port St. Lucie in 1993, and he continued working at various jobs until a year ago when he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
He is survived by his wife, two sons, Greg and Troy, a daughter, Kelli Howard, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild.
The First Baptist Church is located at 115 N.E. Salida Drive, Port St. Lucie. Memorial contributions my be made to Treasure Coast Hospice.