Kenneth Casper

Retired Colonel Kenneth Casper, 80, passed away Thursday, September 30, 2021, in San Angelo.

Memorial services will be 2:00 PM Monday, October 4, 2021, at The Heights Church with Dr. James Miller, pastor, officiating. Cremation and arrangements are under the direction of Robert Massie Funeral Home. Military Honors are afforded by the Goodfellow Honor Guard.

Colonel Casper was born August 27, 1941 in New York, New York to John and Florence Casper. Kenneth was a retired veteran of the US Air Force serving from March 3, 1964 until his retirement on June of 1994. Kenneth married Mary Hutchinson Coppock on October 13, 1973. He has been a resident of San Angelo since 1982.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Casper; a stepdaughter, Lori Saxon and husband Frank of Jamestown, North Carolina; two granddaughters, Courtney Kerr Ward and husband Michael of Gilbert, Arizona, and Caity Kerr of Jamestown, North Carolina; a great granddaughter, Chloe Grace Kerr of Gilbert, Arizona; two nieces, Maureen Howley of Bell Port, New York, and Diane Domin of Massapequa, New York; two nephews, Thomas Domin of Calverton, New York, David Domin of Babylon, New York; and a great nephew, Jamie Howley of Bell Port, New York.

Ken always joked that he was a Fordham man from birth, having been born in Fordham Hospital, attended Fordham Prep and then Fordham University, Bronx, New York. He graduated with a degree in Russian, having worked all four years to pay for his tuition. Upon receiving his draft notice, he enlisted in the Air Force hoping to become a Russian linguist. The Air Force, in its greater wisdom, decided he would train as an intelligence analyst. His first assignment after graduating from OTS was to Goodfellow AFB for intel training. It was here that he first met his in-laws to-be when he was temporarily assigned to the Civil Engineering office, working for Greg Hutchinson (Lt. Col., USA Ret). Upon graduating from his class at Goodfellow, he went to Japan, Saigon, Viet Nam, and Ramstein AFB, Germany. During his Air Force career, he obtained a Master of Science in Education from University of Southern California, 1970.

He returned to Goodfellow AFB in 1971 to manage the Officer's Open Mess. It was then that he renewed his friendship with the Hutchinsons, met his step-daughter-to-be, Lori Coppock Saxon and eventually his wife, Mary. Ken always told people that he did things backwards when acquiring a family; first meeting in-laws, daughter and finally his wife. Thanks to a number of Air Force and DOD moves the family made their final move to San Angelo and Ken began working as a civilian in the "Schoolhouse", retiring in September 1997 as Chief of Resources, 17TRG.

Ken was a published author of over 31 novels of different genres, a contributing columnist to the Buffalo Gap News, Christian Reporter News, and other publications. He was known for his great intellect and loved languages, eventually learning German in addition to his Russian and Latin. He loved being in conversations covering many topics and would often take an opposing view just to keep things interesting. One of the great joys of his life was reading with Chloe Grace at her bedtime or any time. She was the light of his life. His granddaughters said their Grandpa knew the answer to any question they asked and was the smartest person they knew. His many friends and family would wholeheartedly agree.