Obituary of Ken Telidetzki
Kenneth Dirk Telidetzki passed away at Lloydminster Hospital, Lloydminster, SK on May 30, 2025 at the age of 54 years.
Ken is survived by: his loving wife, Jana Rudrick; sons, Kade and Karl (Sharla) Telidetzki and grandson, Kasey; mother, Irmgard Telidetzki; sisters, Chris (Monte) Armstrong, Rita (Bernd) Kern, Karen (Calvin) David; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Ken was predeceased by: his father, Alexander Telidetzki.
The Funeral Service for Ken will be conducted from First Lutheran Church, Lloydminster, AB on Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM. If you are unable to attend in person, you may view the live streaming of the service posted on McCaw Funeral Service website under Ken's obituary.
Donations in memory of Ken may be made to Canadian Cancer Society or charity of choice.
The following Eulogy was written by Ken's sister, Karen David.
Kenneth Dirk Telidetzki was born on February 10, 1971. Dad was so happy to have a son to carry on the Telidetzki name. Chris, Rita and I were also excited to have a baby brother. I remember when he was born. Dad was sitting in the kitchen early that morning and we all asked where Mom was. He said she was in the hospital with our new brother. We couldn’t wait till they came home. Years later, I’m sure, Ken was not as excited to have three older sisters as it was for us to have a baby brother.
Growing up, Kenny, as he was called as a child, was not too influenced by his sisters. He was always 100% a boy. He loved playing with cars and trucks, balls, toy guns, bikes, motorbikes, and snowmobiles. I think he had almost every metal toy that Tonka made. He loved his motocross bike and later his dirt bike. He disliked playing cards though because he couldn’t hold cards in his hands without them falling out. As a child Kenny always said he wanted to be a garbage man because you could find cool stuff. He also collected stickers and he still has two photo albums full of them. If you ever want to see this collection, just ask Jana or Kade and Karl.
Greg Fisher has been a friend of Ken’s for at least 50 years. Greg’s first funny story with Ken was during a sleepover at our house. Since Ken had sisters, there were a lot of girl toys in the toy closet. Ken saved something very special for Greg when he came over. Someone had put milk in one of six little toy plastic milk bottles. Well…you know what happens to milk when it goes bad! Ken opened this bottle and said “Greg have a sniff”. Well, he took a big whiff and that horrible smell of spoiled milk has never left him. That story always stuck in his mind because of the horrible smell and Ken’s contagious laugh that he had. We never could fully get that smell out of that bottle and it is still a mystery as to who put the milk in it but, my bet it was Ken.
Ken had a passion to play the drums. He learned percussion in the school band and then got a drum set to play at home. Ken had to practice during the day though because we didn’t want to wake up the whole neighborhood at night. He loved playing to and listening to ACDC, Def Leppard and Guns & Roses. He still loved his heavy metal, but his tastes had softened just a little over the years.
Ken loved playing hockey. By age 9 or 10 he decided to be a goalie much to Mom’s dismay. Ken was a pretty good goalie, for which he received numerous accolades. Chris and Monte remember one particular game when he was given “Star of the Game” even though they lost 10-0. He had made about 90 saves in a valiant effort. He loved his hockey days.
Our family did a lot of camping to Radium Hot Springs and lakes in Saskatchewan. One weekend at Ministikwan Lake we were walking back to our campsite from the boat launch. Chris and Monte’s dog, Tuffy, was with us and he ran into a tent in the neighboring campsite. Dad yelled out, Kenny, Get out of that tent! We laughed so hard and it was a good laugh for many years to come.
High school was a blast for Ken. Like many kids, school was a place to be with your friends and have fun. Ken was so blessed to have a great friend group. He made friends easily and Greg, Cam, Dean and Brent were his buddies to the end. Ken was the ultimate joker as Dean put it. You never knew what prank Ken had up his sleeve so you were always on your guard. If you fell asleep before everyone else, you might’ve ended up with one shaved eyebrow, right guys?
Rita and Greg share a memory of Ken. When Greg and Ken were in grade 10 they went over the Christmas holidays to visit Rita when she was living in Switzerland. They had such a great time with Rita and her friends over the 3 weeks they were there. There are many fun moments: The skiing, the train rides, the fondues, the horse drawn sleigh ride up into the mountains on New Years and of course, the beer. The funniest part was at the end of the trip when they landed back in Edmonton. When they were in Davos, Ken purchased this punk rocker wig that had a crazy mohawk. After they landed in Edmonton, Ken went into the bathroom to put this wig on. This delayed them a little bit and kept their parents waiting at Arrivals. Well, when Ken came through those doors…you should have seen the look on Mom and Dad’s face! Kenny…” WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR!!!!” Of course, Ken kept the wig on for a little while so he could make the most out of the verbal lashing he was getting. Mom laughed, but Dad didn’t find it funny.
Ken loved vehicles and was very excited when he got his first truck since he was the last of his friends to get his driver’s license. As soon as he turned 16 he went for his driver’s test. Now, he could return all the rides he received over the past year. He would spend lots of time and money fixing up his truck. For fun, Ken, Dean, Greg and Cam entered a car in the demolition derby in Turtleford. They spent hours fixing it up and then seeing it get demolished. He was so proud of this venture.
Turtle Lake was a special place for Ken. We had a family cabin there and Ken enjoyed fishing, campfires and waterskiing. Sometimes Ken and Rita would get up at 5:30 in the morning and fish for 3-4 hours. Rita says they always caught fish and they filleted them together, She filleted and he watched. Ken and I both got jobs for the summer working at Turtle Lake Lodge. He enjoyed working outdoors, fixing, cleaning, gassing up boats and vehicles. He did, however, get tired of constantly mowing grass. Outside of work, Ken was the party planner. Whether the party was at the Old Road or the Fort, firewood was being collected a few days before and word spread quickly about the weekend activities. If you ever needed a campfire started, Ken was the man. If you would like more stories about Ken’s teenage years at Turtle Lake, just ask Greg, Cam or Dean as they all had cabins there too and the boys have many fond memories from these years.
In high school Ken was the one who looked after his friends, loyal to a fault. If there was someone bullying one of his friends, that person knew in short order that if they continued to do so they would have to deal with Ken. He was very protective of his friends. Ken was also generous and always willing to share what he had. He did not want his friends to miss out on any experiences so he would often pay for others so that they could enjoy the same things he enjoyed.
Ken was always a hard worker. He had many part time jobs as a teenager. He made pizzas at Pizza Hut, worked summers at Turtle Lake and then ventured off to Fort McMurray. After a few years working in Fort Mac he came back to Lloydminster to begin his apprenticeship as a Heavy Duty Mechanic. He started his apprenticeship with Pamco and in 1993 he received his Journeyman Heavy Duty Mechanic License. Mom and Dad were so proud of him. In 2003 he started his own business KTel Compressor Services until 2007 when he sold it to Wild Rows Pump and Compression LTD.
Ken bought his first house at age 23 and had it paid off by the time he was 30. Ken and Bernie were married in 1995 and in 1997 he and Bernie were blessed with twins! Kade and Karl came into the world on February 6, four days before his birthday. This was one of Ken’s happiest days of his life. He was so proud to be a father and later a grandfather to Kasey.
Back to Turtle Lake. Ken bought a cabin at Turtle Lake to enjoy with his family and friends. When Jana and her friends would come up for the weekend, Ken always said to Jana, “We need to stock up on candy for Linda” because she always brought Haribo gummies for Ken. They always got their sugar fix on those weekends. Ken loved fishing, quadding and BBQing Steaks. Ken will forever be with Kade & Karl when they head to the lake. Here is a special memory from Kade: “Karl and I have so many memories of the three of us being at the lake. We would just hang out after driving up when Dad was done work or we were done school. There was always a bit of tradition we did every evening as soon as we got up there. We’d first get the fireplace going, then turn on two essential cassettes on the stereo. First, Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits and then Kiss. Once the tunes were cranked, we’d get steaks on the BBQ with some foil wrapped potatoes and a can of beans right on the grill. We did this almost every time we had a guys weekend at the cabin, summer or winter. After supper, it would be a choice of 5 movies: Dumb & Dumber, Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, Slap Shot or Smokey & the Bandit. All three of us could recite any of those movies word for word after the number of times we have watched them.”
Ken will be remembered as someone who lived life to the fullest. He was kind, generous, loyal, stubborn, hard working, a prankster, but most of all he was a loving father and husband. Kade & Karl, Ken was so proud of both of you. Jana, Ken always said how blessed he was to have you in his life. You were his life saver. Rest in peace favorite brother. We love you and you will be missed
