Ken Fouts was born in Pueblo, Colorado on October 3, 1957. His dad was a red-headed Texan and his mom, Hee Soo Rhee Fouts was a petite little woman from Korea who just happened to be one of the first typists in her country and one of the last to escape the grip of Communist Korea. The couple met during war time and eventually married and settled in Colorado.

Together Ken and Hee Soo had four children. Ken was the oldest followed by his brother, Scott (Debbie) and his two sisters, Clarissa Carmack (Jim) and Dorinda Hoke (John – deceased).

Kenny was incredibly close to his mother and sadly lost her to cancer by the time he was 21 years of age. He spoke of her highly and often. Ken’s dad died just this year in May at the ripe old age of 92.

Ken was always a very driven, intelligent, creative and hardworking man. As a youth he missed his own high school graduation because he was taking final exams at the local college. He was an avid outdoorsman and climbed the summits of all the major mountains of Colorado. Ken was at the top of his class academically, a born leader guiding the senior class, yearbook editor and a photographer for the state of Colorado. Math and Science came easy to Ken. He finished his undergraduate work locally with a double major in Math and Physics and a minor in Russian. Because he started early he graduated officially in just three years.

He spent a summer at Stanford doing research and then moved to Kentucky to join the doctoral program at U.K. After three years of teaching and long nights in a lab with huge math problems to solve, Kenny prayerfully decided that God was calling him into the profession of Law and he stepped away from the graduate program to enter another. He took the LSAT, taught himself to write cursive again and began law school in August of 1982.

His law practice started in Eastern Kentucky where he was a public defender for a time. Eventually he stepped into litigation of Worker’s Comp cases, moved his practice to more central Kentucky and then focused on personal injury and medical malpractice. This really proved to be a perfect fit for his personality and allowed him the opportunity to fulfill the calling that he had heard on his life. People are usually having big problems when they go to a lawyer on cases such as those he worked and he did his best to serve his clients according to the law as well as offering help and direction for their lives.

Always an avid Christ follower, Ken was bold in his faith and realized that broken bones heal, bad surgeries can often be corrected and cases won for clients so that physical needs are met but all too often the emotional and spiritual needs are left untouched. Kenny shared his faith openly and honestly and literally hundreds of people came to faith in his office. That was the calling that Ken had on his life. To reach as many people for Christ as possible and to meet their needs as best he could. He was fiercely loyal to his clients and they to him. Many of his clients have been with him since the beginning and most are like brothers and sisters instead of lawyer /client.

Ken practiced law from 1985 until just days before he passed. For the majority of his 36 years in the law profession, Ken partnered with his best friend, mentor and fellow Christian, Davis Bussey at Bussey and Fouts located in Lexington. Davis is an excellent attorney and an amazing man of God. Kenny loved Davis like a brother and a better friendship you will never find. Davis stood with the family in those last hours and prayed for his friend to be healed. Ken experienced the greatest healing that can be offered when he passed into eternity to receive his heavenly reward. Our family will always love and respect Davis for being there and lending his support.

Ken was an inventor, carpenter, fix-it-guy, electrician, tech guy, problem solver, plumber and jack of all trades. There weren’t many things he could not do or was willing to try. The man never ran out of ideas, always had a project or two and a plan. His mind never stopped and his days off from work were often much harder than those in the office. He could have spent every weekend doing something selfish but that just wasn’t Ken. He spent most of his life loving, caring and meeting the needs of family, friends, clients and even total strangers.

Ken loved the Lord with a passion and although he had lots of interests and hobbies Ken was all about God, family and doing the right thing. I met Ken at church 43 years ago. He rented a room from a lady at our church when dorms at U.K. were few and far between. The pastor’s son, Billy May, had made it his mission to introduce us each week to each other. He did that religiously for three years somehow believing that we were a perfect match. We were each very busy and initially just laughed off the weekly introduction. But eventually we became visitation partners and worked with the youth group staying late to clean or drive kids home. In doing so, we eventually talked enough that each of us saw what we were looking for. I was drawn to his intellect, his compassion, his desire to please God and love people. He was different and exactly what I wanted for a husband. Billy May was absolutely right in believing that we were a perfect match.

We were married in July of 1982 just one month before law school began. Our first child was born during second year law school finals. The second came just before Ken took the bar exam and roughly 18 months or so afterwards we welcomed another beautiful child to our lives.

Together we have six adult children. Taylor Norsworthy (Adam), Peyton Fouts (Cherry), Jordan Fouts (Mallory), Tanner Fouts, Dylan Fouts (Morgan), and Sawyer Fouts. We also have been blessed with six gorgeous grandchildren, Levi (13), Landry Kate (5), Joseph (2), Merritt (2), John (6 months), and Leighton (4 months). Our hearts are broken and this loss is huge. Ken’s death leaves a giant hole in our family but God will get us through. We aren’t going to stop loving Him. We won’t stop serving Him. We won’t stop praising Him for His goodness and blessings. On the contrary, the baton has been passed to each of us and we will carry the Good News of Christ to the world just as Kenny did.