Ken Weaver passed away on April 12, 2026 in Tucson, Arizona, after a brief illness due to complications following surgery. He was 76. Ken loved to share stories of his life from a time filled with more freedoms and responsibilities than kids tend to see today. He grew up as a precocious child in rural Long Island, New York in the 1950s and 60s. He graduated from Smithtown Central High School in Smithtown, NY in 1967, and attended Emory & Henry University in Virginia from 1967 till 1971, and went on to a career at ABC in New York City, where he worked in mission critical audio production roles. As an audio technician and supervisor, Ken delivered audio feeds for news, sports, and drama programs including soap operas, superbowls, golf tournaments, space shuttle launches, and live coverage of the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games, the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, and the 1981 Superstars Final. After moving to Tucson in 1987, Ken helped produce safety and promotional videos at Tucson Electric Power. Ken was also an entrepreneur at various points in his career, running small businesses as an Apple Computer dealer, and an audiovisual consultant.

During his time at ABC, Ken was nominated for an Emmy award in 1979 for Outstanding Achievement in Audio Technical Excellence for a Daytime Drama Series for Ryan’s Hope, and he won an Emmy award in 1985 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Audio for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.

In retirement, Ken helped produce two videos for the 475th Fighter Group, a P-38 group that flew in the South Pacific during World War II. The videos played at the P-38 exhibit at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. For more than 30 years, Ken was a vital member of the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association (SARA), serving in multiple roles on the board of directors, and providing continuity between many generations of club leadership. Ken loved supporting SARA’s educational mission by helping with school build & fly classes, outreach at STEM events, as well as local and national model rocket launches. Ken inspired successive generations of model rocketry students and teachers, emphasizing development of students’ scientific curiosity, critical thinking, self-confidence and knowledge through discipline, self-awareness, experimentation, and documentation. Ken enthusiastically shared his broad and deep understanding of his vast knowledge of the theoretical, technical, and regulatory aspects of his many interests with those fortunate to call him a friend, colleague, or mentor. But he also brought a practical, common sense approach to a life filled with adventure; Ken was a sailor, a pilot, a rocketeer, a HAM radio operator, an electronics designer and fabricator, and he enjoyed a host of other interests that he studied with an infectious passion and vigor.

Ken was a true survivor, recovering from multiple car crashes, a plane crash, and an adventuresome lifetime spent embracing and learning from his successes and failures. Later in his life, Ken recovered his ability to walk, talk and read, following a severe stroke that left him with persistent vestibular difficulties and word aphasia. But despite the challenges life threw his way, Ken inspired those around him through his steadfast resilience and determination to live life to its fullest.

Ken is survived by his stepson Josh. Ken was preceded in death by his parents, John Raymond Weaver and Zita Marguerite Bauman, and his partner Lana Hackbarth.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a tax deductible donation to Southern Arizona Rocketry Association.