Kenneth Vail

PRINCETON — Kenneth “Ken” Vail, a lifelong birder known for his love of nature and passion for sharing the natural world with others, died surrounded by loved ones and birdsong on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. He passed at the age of 71 after a brief battle with acute onset liver disease.

Ken was born in 1948 in Princeton to Roger Vail and Elizabeth (Linke) Vail, and grew up on the family farm in nearby Tiskilwa. As a proud farm boy in a family of nine, he carried his love of animal husbandry, fossil hunting, Star Trek and Midwestern farmlands with him throughout his life.

He served as a U.S. Navy E-5 Radarman from 1968 to 1972. After an honorable discharge from Navy service, he attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Biology with a focus on Ornithology.

In 1980, Ken married Rebecca (Ernst) Vail. After raising two daughters over 35 years of marriage, Ken and Rebecca parted ways. Ken spent the last two years of his life living in Carbondale with longtime friend Pat Drake, traveling the country, and seeking to complete his birding life list.

Until just a few weeks before his death, Ken was active and engaged. He took regular hikes and rarely went anywhere without his binoculars, even the grocery store. (As all birders know, one never can tell where that next lifer will appear!) Unfortunately, he never found that fork-tailed flycatcher, but his decades-long birding group will continue the search in his honor.

Throughout his life, Ken promoted birdwatching and the preservation of natural spaces, teaching anyone who was interested how to identify our feathered friends. He was eternally curious, inspired by science and science fiction, and found wonder everywhere, from plants and animal life to the cascade of stars across the night sky. He shared this wonder with everyone around him, perhaps none more so than his daughters.

Ken is survived by his daughters, Amanda Vail (Jennifer Abts) of Seattle, Wash., and Kristin Vail of Phoenix, Ariz.; his siblings, Virginia “Ginny” Gustafson (Allen) of Princeton, John Vail (Myrna) of Tucson, Ariz., Peggy Moreland (Roger) of Owatonna, Minn., Sandy Elmore (Don) of Dover, Rowena Vail (sister-in-law) of Auburn and Pamela Fisher (Larry) of El Paso, Ill.; a friend Pat Drake of Carbondale; his ex-wife, Rebecca Vail of Faribault, Minn.; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Robert “Bob” Vail.

A private interment will be held in Princeton on May 1. A celebration of life will be held the following day.

Donations in Ken’s honor may be made to the Nature Conservancy of Illinois or Minnesota.