EDMONDS – Father Kenneth W. “Ken” Haydock died March 20, 2024, at his home in Greenhaven Senior Care in Edmonds. He had spent part of March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, at the spring luncheon for senior priests in Edmonds.
He was born July 18, 1946, in Seattle to Frank Haydock and Margaret McClenehan Haydock, the fourth of five children. He grew up on Capitol Hill across the street from St. Joseph Parish, where he worshipped with his family, attended grade school and came to love the Sisters of the Holy Names, who planted the seeds for his priestly vocation.
He entered the Oregon Province of Jesuits for a brief time after graduating from Seattle Preparatory School. Later, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Seattle University. He was a schoolteacher and librarian for many years at Seattle Prep and Kennedy Catholic High School, an example of a man whose vocation to priesthood came from serving as a lay minister in the church.
He attended seminary at Catholic University of America, where he received a master’s degree. He was ordained Dec. 6, 1980, at Sacred Heart Church in Bellevue by Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen.
His first assignment was as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Bellevue, followed by an assignment as associate pastor at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Everett. His first assignment as a pastor came in 1985 at St. Joseph Parish in Vancouver. Plans to build a new church were thwarted before his arrival, but by that fall, Father Haydock had won over parishioners and developed a new building plan.
During his time at St. Joseph, it grew to become the archdiocese’s second-largest parish. Among his initiatives were building a music and choral program that eventually became “Bravo Vancouver Chorale,” which recorded several CDs and went on performance tours in Europe. Father Haydock also started “Golden Fellowship,” a ministry that brought the parish’s seniors together for prayer and companionship. He also started the annual “Celebrate Marriage Mass” and dinner to honor couples celebrating milestone anniversaries.
In 1996, after two terms in Vancouver, Father Haydock was appointed pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Edmonds, where he served for 20 years.
Archbishop Alex J. Brunett appointed Father Haydock the archdiocese’s vicar for charities and board chairman for Catholic Community Services of Western Washington and the Archdiocesan Housing Authority.
Father Haydock seemed to love everything about being a diocesan priest and seemed to see Jesus in everyone he encountered. He is remembered as a priest with a big heart and a deep compassion for the sick, the homebound, the poor and the dying. He carried a small spiral notebook to write down people’s prayer intentions or names so that he could include them in his daily prayers. He was always “on call” and dropped whatever he was doing, day or night, to go to the bedside of someone dying.
Father Haydock’s last pastoral assignment was at St. Bridget Parish in Seattle, before his health necessitated taking senior priest status in 2018. He spent his last few years in care facilities, where he found it challenging to be the recipient of care, but also made many new friends.
Father Haydock often said he was “a man of few tastes — only the best.” He was a collector of fine art and books; in 2014, he donated his library of 10,000 philosophy and theology books to Saint John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C.
Father Haydock was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Daniel Toner and David Toner.
He is survived by his sisters Roberta Brown and Holy Names Sister Linda Haydock, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
A vigil will be at 7 p.m. April 10 at Holy Rosary Church in Edmonds. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. April 11 at Holy Rosary Church, followed by a reception in the parish hall.
Interment will be at 3 p.m. April 11 at Calvary Cemetery in Seattle.
Memorial donations may be made to Catholic Community Services of Western Washington or the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, P.O. Box 398, Marylhurst, OR 97036.