Kenneth Wayne Pulliam

Lifetime Delta County resident Kenneth Wayne Pulliam passed away after a short illness at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction on June 29, 2025. He was 92 years old.

Kenneth was born on February 3, 1933, to Jesse and Maude (Green) Pulliam in Read Colorado. He was the youngest of eleven children. Kenneth received his elementary education at the old Read school and graduated from Delta High School in 1951.

On November 28, 1955, Kenneth married Virginia Rowland in Delta, and they celebrated 59 years together until Virginia passed away in 2014. They had four children, Ken Jr., Cindy, Linda, and Kirby. Shortly after getting married, Kenneth served his country in the United States Army where he was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska. Upon his discharge from the Army Kenneth returned home to the Read/Austin area with Virginia and their son Ken Jr. He lived there for the remainder of his life. He took up farming raising a variety of crops to support his expanding family and continued to farm up to his passing raising alfalfa/grass hay on 10 acres at his home place in Read. He picked apples in the fall and pruned fruit trees in the spring. He loved where he was in life and loved to tell people that he was born only a ¼ mile from where he lived.

Kenneth loved elk hunting, fur trapping, fly fishing, and trap shooting. He also loved to play fast pitch softball and was an outstanding pitcher for Orchard City 66 for many years and even played softball on snowshoes while stationed in Fairbanks. He served 16 years as a board member on the Delta Fire Department and as the President of the Relief Ditch Company. He liked old country music and was a regular attendee at the monthly Bluegrass concerts in Pea Green. He also enjoyed taking drives in the mountains and going on “deer counts” across Fruitland Mesa in the winter. He also loved longer road trips which usually ended up in Las Vegas or the Ute Mountain Casino in Cortez, but his greatest joy was his family. Surrounded by his family whether at a picnic in the mountains or a holiday gathering at home always brought a smile to his face.

Kenneth is survived by his four children. Ken Jr. of Delta, Cindy Kokesh and husband Kim of Austin. Linda Hall and husband Wade of McPherson, Kansas. Kirby and his companion Betty Hopkins of Grand Junction – grandchildren Ray

Sanchez Jr. and his wife April of Delta, Kristy Sanchez and her husband Hans Richter of Erie, Colorado, Morgan Magill and husband Brent of Grand Junction and Cody Doyle of Superior, Colorado.

Brother-in-law Ronald Rowland and wife Rhonda of Moroni, Utah and great grandchildren Brett and Layne Sanchez of Delta, Owen and Oliver Magill of Grand Junction plus numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his 10 siblings, and wife Virginia.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Taylor Funeral Services in Delta at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. A private graveside service will immediately follow. For those who can’t attend, this service will be livestreamed at www.taylorfuneralservice.com. Click on Kenneth’s obituary to view the livestream or recording of the service.

A private graveside service for the family will immediately follow the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a memorial donation in the name of Kenneth Pulliam be made to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. For more information go to: https://www.rmef.org/donate/memorials-honoraria/ The family contact information for the memorial is Cindy Kokesh, 11637 Kelly Lane, Austin, CO 81410