Kenneth "Butch" Wayne Burgener

Kenneth Wayne Burgener, better known as Butch, 80, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, passed away on Feb. 6, 2021 after a stroke. Butch was born on Nov. 15, 1940 to Kenneth Burgener and Hazel Long in Marceline, Missouri. He earned his nickname, “Butch,” when he was two, at a time when “Butch Jenkins,” a Dennis the Menace type of character, was a popular red-haired, freckled movie personality. After graduating from Brookfield High School in 1958, he attended William Jewell College with a football scholarship for one year and then joined the US Army. He loved his time in Europe with the Army. When he returned to the U.S. at the end of his three years of service, Butch spent his sophomore year at the University of Houston and finally graduated from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where he completed his bachelor’s degrees in Architecture and Economics in 1967 and his Master’s degree in Industrial Relations in 1968. In high school, Butch met his future wife, Karen Ridgway. They were separated by time and miles while Butch was in college and the Army, but, in 1964 they married, going on to have 3 children, Kirsti, Paige and Ashley – in adulthood, known as Kirsti Carroll, Paige Burgess and Ashley Veigel. After graduation, Butch’s first job was with Celanese in Texas, the beginning of a 30-year career in personnel and human resources management – a career that took he and his family to many locales. Notably, Butch describes his job at A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm in Chicago, Illinois: “In the 9 years I worked for A.T. Kearney, I had over 100 consulting assignments, from small- to medium-sized IT companies to huge companies like IBM, the US Post Office and the Egyptian government. It was an incredible job experience, all I had hoped it might be, but the highlight was working in Egypt.” In 1983, Butch became the Director of Human Resources job at Compassion International, a Christian child sponsorship ministry headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he stayed until 1999. Butch worked at Compassion for 16 years before finally retiring into full-time real estate work in 1999 at the age of 59. During those years, Butch bought and sold dozens of houses and put in countless hours of work. Butch never truly retired. On the day he had his stroke, he was still trading stocks, managing rental properties and dealing with housing improvements in the large house-on-the-hill that he and Karen had built almost 40 years ago. One of Butch’s greatest joys during retirement was spending time with his 6 grandsons, 2 from each daughter. The first grandson graduated from high school a few years before his passing, two a few months after his passing, and the remaining 3 will graduate soon. Butch would want anyone reading this to know that, in 1969, after all 3 of his daughters were born, he became a Christian. Butch gave #1 priority to his faith in Christ, with an eye to eternity where he is now reaping the reward. He depended on the Bible and prayer and Christian counsel for his direction in life. Here are a few Bible verses that well illustrate his way of living: Proverbs 3:5-6 -- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Hebrews 12:1b-2a -- Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Butch was predeceased by his parents and his sisters Betty, Kay and Peg. Butch was survived by a younger sister, Connie, and younger brother, Don. He is also survived is survived by his wife, Karen, his daughters Kirsti, Paige and Ashley, and their husbands, John Carroll, Robert Burgess and Scott Veigel. His surviving grandsons include Danilo Burgener, Dylan Veigel, Trevor Burgess, Ace Schermerhorn, Jason Burgess and Roman Veigel.