Read Mr. John "Ken" Kenney Berscht's Obituary & Leave Condolences

In memory of

Mr. John "Ken" Kenney Berscht

Calgary, AB, Canada

September 19, 1938 - November 11, 2021

Sep 19, 1938 - Nov 11, 2021

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John Kenney Berscht, 83, of Calgary passed away on November 11, 2021 after a brief battle with a stroke. Ken was born on September 19, 1938 to Russell and Louise in Innisfail, Alberta. He is survived by his beloved sister Janet Davis of Simcoe Ontario and his children and grandchildren. He attended post-secondary at Mount Royal College in Calgary and then completed his Honours, Business Administration at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London, Ontario where he met and eventually married Lynn Irwin in 1962. After graduation, he returned to Innisfail to work with his father at the long established family clothing store J.V. Berscht & Sons which was originally started by his grandfather in Didsbury Alberta.

Ken worked in the family business for many years growing the main business, opening a second location and branching into the import business with contacts that he developed in Taiwan. Always an entrepreneur he partnered with one of his good friends and opened the first pizza restaurant (BJ's Pizza) in Innisfail. He was an active part of the Innisfail community working with the local Rotary Club, town council, the Royal Canadian Legion for starters. You could always count on Ken and his dad Russell Sr. having a scotch in the office at the family business.

Ken's passion for finance and business led him to branch out into the securities market and he moved to Calgary with his family in 1981. He worked in the finance business with numerous brokerage firms over the years in Calgary, Vancouver and San Diego. Ken was always looking for the next deal that he could put together and that would continue right up until he passed away when he was working on a project to ship beef to China!

Ken's ability to find new, interesting and sometimes obscure deals always kept us guessing about what he might be up to next. Some of his ventures included inflatable furniture, 3D printing long before it was mainstream, portable bottled water facilities, gold/silver mines, metal pallets, BlockBuster video for Canada (unfortunately he missed that one!), medical marijuana, medical gloves, gowns and masks for Covid and so many others that we have forgotten about. Always the optimist he moved from one project to the next and by no means did they all work out like he would have hoped.

Ken loved the outdoors. From horses, cattle and fishing at the ThunderBird Ranch to the Salmon fishing on the Dilligaf in Vancouver, he loved it all. He went on many salmon fishing trips to the west coast of British Columbia and was particularly fond of Campbell River and Rivers inlet. He was always enamored with the ocean having a love for boats and being a huge fan of the America's cup yachting races. He had the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of an African Safari with his best friend Mike Prew. Always the adventurer he lived his life as he wanted.

Ken dearly loved his family including his three children (Douglas (Kim), Russell, Heidi), four grandchildren (Rachel, Aniston, Nicholas, Kyra) and four grandnieces (Emi, Jacklyn, Kaili, Emily) and grandnephew (Ryan). When not travelling the world and more so in his last few years in Calgary he loved to spend time with them and could always be counted on coming to family supper, birthdays, ThanksGiving or Christmas.

Ken lived his life fully and completely experiencing and enjoying more than many of us could ever hope for. He will be deeply missed by all who loved and cared about him.

The family would like to invite you to add any thoughts, pictures, messages or memories that you would want to share to this site. Please visit (and revisit) the Memories link to add your thoughts and see those of others.

For friends wishing to make a donation, the family suggests that you may plant a tree in Ken's memory at https://www.alivingtribute.ca/ or alternatively a donation to the Heart and Stroke foundation.