Ken was born on March 19, 1936, in the Denver suburb of Edgewater, Colorado, to Eric Ingamar and Mildred Thornsby Dillner. Eric Ingamar was the volunteer fire chief, a carpenter with the Denver Rio Grande Railroad, and a self-taught musician. Mildred was a homemaker, baker, and crafter. Ken had one sister, Ruth Dillner McCarty.

Ken attended Edgewater High School, where he was active in both sports (basketball, football, baseball) and music (musicals, vocal quartet and clarinet). After graduating from high school, he earned a degree in Elementary Education at the University of Northern Colorado. In college, he was president of the Acacia Fraternity, sang in the choir, played in the band, and was in the Air Force ROTC.

After earning his college degree in 1958, Ken joined the Air Force Weather Service, serving first at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, CA and then at Scott AFB in Belleville, IL. While in the Air Force, Ken traveled worldwide as a personnel officer. Ken and Beverly met by “accident” on Easter Sunday 1959. Ken began attending Grace United Methodist Church, where Beverly was a member, and joined the Grace choir shortly thereafter.

Ken and Beverly married at Grace Church on July 15, 1961, just days after Ken completed his Air Force commitment. They honeymooned in Ken’s beloved Rocky Mountains. After a year of marriage, they spent seven weeks traveling from Stockholm to Pompeii in a VW Beetle.

Ken began his career as an elementary school teacher at Clark School in Webster Groves. He then earned a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Administration at Washington University and served as an elementary school principal at Heege School in Affton, Captain School in Clayton, and Maple Grove Elementary in Northwest R-1 school district. In 1998, Ken received the Distinguished Principals Award in Jefferson County. He retired after 38 years as an educator. He then joined the Missouri Retired Teachers’ Association, was on the MRTA Foundation Board, and helped select and present countless classroom grants to Missouri teachers.

Ken sang in the Grace UMC choir for over 65 years. In the last weeks of his life, he was able to sing one last time with the choir in worship with his son’s help, attend the choir picnic, and enjoy singing with the Grace choir at his and Beverly’s retirement community. At Grace, Ken also served as a trustee and as a member of various committees, including music, worship, building and grounds, and the administrative board. He was President of the United Methodist Men for many years and became a Fellow of the John Wesley Society. He enjoyed doing maintenance work at the church including hanging the stars from the proscenium arch for Christmas.

While their favorite trips were to see children and grandchildren, Ken and Beverly traveled throughout the US and Canada, as well as Costa Rica, Mexico, Patagonia and Cape Horn, Israel and Jordan (Petra), Turkey (Cappadocia), Greece, Machu Picchu, the Galapagos Islands, the Panama Canal and on an African safari. They especially enjoyed small river boat trips down the Nile, Rhine, Danube and Rhone.

In January 2021, Ken and Beverly moved from their Crystal Lake Park home of 59 years to Mason Pointe Retirement Community. There Ken did water aerobics and stretch exercise classes, played competitive water volleyball, created art with clay and paint, and attended the Bible study and Veterans’ meetings. He helped lead the sing- along group and sang in the Mason Pointe choir, including in a concert two days before he died.

Ken was diagnosed with cancer on July 31, 2023. Wanting to help others until the end, he was an eager participant in a research study for seniors with pancreatic cancer at Siteman Cancer Center. He lived much longer than expected.  His success was shared at a national conference where oncologists advocated for seniors to receive insurance coverage to battle this horrible disease through aggressive chemotherapy.

Ken passed away peacefully at home on June 21, 2025, with family at his side. He was preceded in death by his sister Ruth (William) McCarty. Ken is survived by Beverly, his wife of almost 64 years, daughter Ann (Cort Anastasio) Dillner, son Eric (Susan Yankee) Dillner and grandsons Eric Conrad Dillner and Teo Dillner Anastasio. He is survived by nieces and nephews Debbie McCarty and David (Janet) McCarty, Judy (Keith) Cronk, Clif Cronk, Lisa (David) Ross, Marta (Tim) Hopkins, Andrea (Jim) Kirkland, Rachel (Kevin) Goben, Monica (Jason) Hosfelt, Ken (Hariven) Cronk, Chris Cronk, Natalie (Dave) Cronk, Dennis (Leah) Cronk, Tom (Katie) Cronk, and their families. He is also survived by cousins Gene Dillner, Karen (Greg) Dawson, Wayne (Donna) Brown, Janet
(Mike) Schneider, and Ronnie Fugita and their families.

A Celebration of Life for Ken will be held on July 12, 2025 at 10:30 am at Grace United Methodist Church, 6199 Waterman Blvd, at the corner of Skinker and Waterman, in St. Louis, MO.  Lunch will follow the service.  Instead of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Grace UMC Music Program, either via mail or online at https://GraceUMC-STL.faithteams.com/give (from the “Give To” dropdown menu, choose “Music at Grace”). Ken will be interned at the Anne Perry Memorial Garden at Grace United Methodist Church in a private service.