Kenneth (Ken) Ray Wiginton

Kenneth Ray Wiginton, 82, passed away peacefully on October 18, 2022, at his home in Lampasas, Texas.  He was born on September 21, 1940, in Ballinger, Texas to Floyd and Elva Lee Wiginton.

A visitation will be held at Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel at 11 am on Sunday, October 23, 2022, with a funeral service, immediately following at 12 pm.  Burial will follow at Jenkins Springs Cemetery in Early, TX.

Ken grew up in Ballinger, Texas, and graduated from Ballinger High School in 1959.  Ken had the privilege of playing football, basketball, and tennis in high school and was a participant in the State Tennis Championship team all three years.  After high school, Ken attended Sam Houston State Teacher's College in Huntsville on a full athletic football scholarship.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1963 and earned a teacher's certificate.  Ken's teaching and coaching career began in 1964 as a freshman football and basketball coach at Aldine High School in Houston.  In 1968 he moved to Cleburne to be a junior varsity football coach teaching general science.  Ken went on to coach in other districts such as Joshua, Mexia, Athens, Lampasas, and Bastrop and retired to Lampasas, Texas following his last coaching stop in 2000 after 36 years in the profession.

Sam Houston State is where Ken met Mary Louise (Lou) Haydon and they were married at Freewill Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas on August 24, 1963.  Ken and Lou welcomed Lee Glyndon Wiginton into their lives in August of 1970 and Jill Ann arrived in April of 1971.  They were happily married for 59 years.  Ken and Lou retired to a lovely neighborhood known as "wrinkle ridge" surrounded by friendly neighbors and a back porch made for early morning coffee drinking and newspaper reading.  In his retirement, Ken enjoyed attending sporting events that his son, Lee, coached, events that his grandchildren participated in, and attended local games in Lampasas, often volunteering to keep the clock or books.  He was also an avid golfer and spent many hours on the golf course either playing or working at the course.  Ken was an inspiration to many throughout his coaching career and in retirement.  He was intentional with his words, ensuring that he spoke encouragement and love to everyone he encountered.  Ken wrote notes of praise, kind thoughts, or simply humorous sayings and would leave them behind for his loved ones to read.  He was extremely proud of his family and made sure they knew it.  Ken was well known for sending after-game reports following Lee's Friday night games, summarizing the event with detail, humor, and good-natured criticism.  He was the author of 3 autobiographical/motivational books which described his experiences in coaching and in life, all written with his unique sense of humor and one-of-a-kind phrases.  His books are full of many stories and life lessons, mostly highlighting the important relationships that coaching brought to his life.

Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Floyd and Elva Lee Wiginton.

He is survived by his wife, Lou, of Lampasas, and his cat, Bert; his son, Lee Wiginton, and wife Becky of Allen, Texas; his daughter, Jill Wiginton Schaffer of Amarillo, Texas; his sister, Joyce Spreen of Ballinger, Texas; his grandchildren, Haydon Wiginton, Julia Wiginton, and Hudson Schaffer.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations are made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Lampasas Animal Shelter.