Kenneth Scott McCormick

Kenneth Scott McCormick, 79, of Birchrunville, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on Saturday, December 20, 2025.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Valerie Green McCormick; his children, Megan (Max) McCormick and Keenan McCormick; and his stepdaughter, Manita Hartley.

Born January 15, 1946, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Ken was the son of the late Gloria Boone Franklin and the late Willis McCormick.

Ken spent his early years in Lancaster, Washington, D.C., and Stratford, Pennsylvania, before settling into his 1800s farmhouse on 21 wooded acres in Birchrunville, Pennsylvania — a place that reflected his deep love of history, solitude, and the natural world.

He was a graduate of The Haverford School and continued his education at Villanova University and West Chester University, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in History and Spanish. He later studied Spanish abroad in Guatemala and Spain and, during his many trips to Guatemala, participated in Christian mission work.

Ken devoted his professional life to education, working as a teacher and sharing his love of history, language, and learning with generations of students.

A lifelong learner and passionate art enthusiast, Ken collected ancient coins and historical stamps, and built an impressive, wide-ranging art collection, spanning works associated with the Hudson River School through non-representational pieces. His appreciation for art was matched by his talent behind the camera; he was also a skilled and thoughtful photographer, using photography to document landscapes, cultures, and moments from his family life and travels.

An avid outdoorsman and adventurer, Ken enjoyed kayaking, hiking, mountain climbing, backpacking, and travel. He journeyed extensively throughout Europe, Australia, and North, Central, and South America, as well as Antarctica, always seeking both natural beauty and human stories.

He delighted in recounting his many hijinks and adventures to family and friends — from setting the world record as the first person to land a kayak on the Antarctic mainland, to trekking through snow-capped mountains; from flagging down a train near his Alaskan homestead, hunting, fishing, camping, and traveling via bush helicopter in the Alaskan wilderness, to hitchhiking across the United States in the 1970s; from dodging bulls in the English countryside and racing through Jamaican sugar cane fields to elude danger, to narrowly escaping poisonous snakes in the Australian bush and deadly spiders in latrines — all while reveling in the majesty and beauty of planet Earth. He often joked that he lived a “charmed life,” somehow always emerging unscathed from his larger-than-life, cinematic escapades.

Throughout his life, Ken was also a talented and passionate writer. He appeared in multiple publications, including numerous articles for the L5 Society, a space colony advocacy organization, as well as articles on local history for The Pottstown Mercury and other publications. He shared many autobiographical short stories online and co-authored a book for family and friends on his Alaskan adventures, a work that also featured his own photography. In the final years of his life, he dedicated himself to completing a collection of essays and travel narratives exploring his experiences and the cultural and political history of South America, entitled Riding the Chicken Bus. The book will be published posthumously and made available to family, friends, and on major online platforms.

Ken’s Christian faith, strong ethics, values, and beliefs were a guiding force throughout his life.

He deeply loved his family, including his pets, who were a constant source of companionship.

Services and interment will be private and held at the convenience of the family.

Arrangements are by DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home, Inc.,
410 N. Church St., West Chester, PA 19380
610-696-1181 | www.DellaFH.com