Born on February 5, 1944 to Rex and Nola Ellsworth, who were ranchers building a horse-racing empire in Arizona and California. Books and studying were never his thing, but he had a brilliant mind and could always turn an idea into income. Our mother always said, "He used his brain more than anyone I know.” Kim loved working with the cattle and race horses on his dad’s ranch growing up. At 19, he was called to serve a two-year mission to Australia for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After returning home, he attended BYU, fully intending to find his eternal companion. He meet her in a class they shared, and after a whirlwind courtship lasting 5 months, he and Patricia England married on April 7, 1966. They were sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple by President Spencer W. Kimball. They soon moved back to California, where their family grew with the birth of their first child, Bert. The “twins” Karyn and Kalyn followed three and a half years later, and Ambia coming five years after the twins.

Kim followed in his father Rex's footsteps as a dedicated owner, trainer, and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses for most of his life even achieving Trainer of the Year in 1987 at the Birmingham, Alabama, racetrack. Kim, always thinking of clever ways to support his family, had many side hustles. Some of which were: he bought an 18 wheeler and ran a small trucking company, he bred Boer goats, and even tried being a car dealer. Along with operating a 55-acre horse horse training facility in Riverside, CA that he named Milestone. Kim had a talent for making anything. If he could dream it, he could build it. His talents ranged from welding, leather work, making fiberglass saddles and he could do anything with a tractor and some dirt. Kim loved to create things and he never shied away from hard work and even passed that trait on to his kids.

Kim could be described as a wanderer. He moved often, sometimes up to four times a year, only occasionally planting roots for longer intervals. He was always searching for that perfect place. Kim was a humble man who could learn from his mistakes and tried to pass his hard-earned knowledge onto his children. But he was gracious enough to let them make their own choices. Ambia’s favorite quote from dad after seeking advice on a new truck purchase was, "Baby, if you've got more money than sense, you can do what you want.” He knew we needed to make our own choices in life and trusted in our ability to work it out. It didn’t matter if you were being asked to drive a truck and trailer full of horses through traffic, unload a trailer with a forklift, work with heavy machinery, ride a racehorse, or take over his company’s books, he had confidence you could do it. The phrase “you’re on” was a phrase he used.

One Sunday afternoon, returning home from church, he noticed men running horse match races on his racetrack without his consent. Despite the irritation an idea formed and he started charging people to come watch the match races. In his mind, it was a win-win for everybody, and it became quite successful.

Sadly, during this time, his loving and faithful wife Pat became ill with cancer. He lost her on September 6, 1999. A devastating loss for us all and one from which we feared he might never recover. Fortunately, he met and married his second wife, Joyce Clark King. The world grew brighter again, and he set his mind on another big idea: turning his horse ranch into a motorcycle park for "metal horses". After successfully getting Milestone MX Park up and running he moved to beautiful western Colorado where he felt at home doing what he did best: making something out of nothing. Having an acre of indoor space for all the projects he could imagine, it was a dream retirement for him until the weather turned cold, then he started dreaming of warmer adventures. Like the "next big move” ...whether to Guatemala or Texarkana, the next adventure was always just a thought or a mouse click away.

To know Kim was to love him and he had many good lifelong friends. He was playful with a quick wit and contagious laugh. He was easy to like and a fantastic storyteller. His stories were always enjoyable-whether funny or not-because he'd crack himself up just telling the tale. Kim loved animals, although not as much as they loved him, especially dogs. He had a gift that all dogs loved him. Kim was fortunate to have many devoted companions throughout life, both the human and animal variety.

Kim lost his battle with CLIPPERS, a rare autoimmune disorder, on January 8, 2026. He will be forever missed, especially at family birthday parties, where he always sang "Happy Birthday" as loudly, off key, and out of sync as he could. We are grateful we had him as long as we did.

A wanderer to the end, his journey continues in the stories we carry and the lives he helped shape.

We love you, Dad.