KENNETH WAYNE "KEN" ELLIOTT

1946 - 2025

Kenneth Wayne Elliott passed away in the early morning hours of July 9, 2025.
Ken was born June 6, 1946, in Oakdale, California, to Ivan and Nellie Elliott. He grew up in the Stanislaus County region working as a young man in the dairy industry.
In the early 1980s, Ken moved his family to Groveland, California, where he lived the remainder of his days. For a good part of his life, he enjoyed being the manager of the Crane Flat Gas station in Yosemite National Park. After retiring from Crane Flat, he needed to keep busy and took a job as the manager of Vern's Groveland Gas, where many will remember him as the crazy, sweet, fun-loving, wild-haired mountain man with the bandanas on his head. For the better part of 20 years, Ken was instrumental in the building and caretaking of Lillaskog Lodge in Groveland where he and his wife lived until his passing. His true loves were nature, his family, working on and driving loud and fast cars, trucks and dune buggies and being the last caretaker of Hazel Green Ranch on the border of Yosemite National Park. But nothing compared to the love he had for his loving wife, Linda.
Ken is survived by his wife, Linda; son, Ken Elliott Jr. (Dorothy); daughters Tammy Johnson (Billy) and Cindy DeCoster (Scott); brother Herb Elliott (Marilyn); grandchildren Jessie, Faben, Trey, Caleb, Kayla, Ryan E, Ashley, Amber, Ryan P, Amiee, Aly, Jessica and Lucas; and many, many great-grandchildren.
Ken sadly was preceded in death by his parents, Ivan and Nellie Elliott; sister, Lois Bruhner; and his sons Jerry Elliott and John DeCoster. Ken will be missed by so many, as he was one of the kindest souls to grace the planet.
A celebration of his life will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, at the Lillaskog Lodge in Groveland.