My team
My Story…
Grateful. Blessed. These are the words that come to mind for most people this time of year. For my family, this holiday season will also include sadness and heartbreak as it will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas without the patriarch of our family.
My Father, Ken Beckstrom lost his battle with stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer on March 3rd of this year. In April 2025, Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer that had spread to his bile ducts, bones and liver. This diagnosis came as a huge shock to the family; Dad had been cancer free for 27 years.
In 1998 Dad was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer and had a full esophagectomy and esophagus reconstruction. By the grace of God and Dad’s will to live, he survived the surgery and recovered from this horrible disease. Beating cancer is just part of the battle, learning to live with life after cancer is a whole battle of it's own. He continued to run his business, Beckstrom Electric, which he started 10 years earlier in our dining room and grew it into a multi-million dollar business until he retired at 67. He was always known for his strength and positivity, but for many years he secretly worried about the cancer coming back.
After beating esophageal cancer, he spent the next 27 years living life to it’s fullest. He reminded us that those 27 years were a blessing and a gift. He was thankful to see his son and daughter get married, his five grandsons grow into wonderful young men, and to travel the world with his high school sweetheart and love of his life, Debbie Beckstrom. Dad loved his family deeply and had extraordinary relationships not only with my Mom, brother and I and his grandchildren but also with his siblings, nieces, nephews and many friends who were like family. In addition to his love for family, he loved music; you could often find him listening to music, singing, playing his guitar and dancing.
When he was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer his doctor’s told him that surviving for 27 years after Esophageal Cancer was almost unheard of. He reminded us often to look at these past 27 years as a blessing, a gift from God. Dad’s doctors provided him with the best testing and treatment options to extend his life a little longer however we all knew our time together was limited so we tried to continue to count each day as a blessing and follow Dad’s example of living life to it’s fullest. In December Dad began to decline significantly but he always stayed positive, kind and loving to everyone around him. He battled this devastating disease with such grace and we will always cherish the time we had together.
When I decided to do this walk for the first time last year, I did it as a way of personally dealing with his diagnosis and as a way of “doing something” to help at a time when I felt so helpless. We received so much support, love and generosity and because of that we raised $4937.55 in the 2025 Project Purple Turkey to support Pancreatic Cancer Awareness & Research and Patient Aid; this year I’d love to beat that total and continue to help those fighting this awful disease.
Join our team, Ken’s Treble Makers to participate in the event, Project Purple's Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Turkey Trot 2026 on Saturday, November 28th, at 10am for a 5K run/walk Turkey Trot in honor of my Dad, Ken Beckstrom. You can run/walk with our team here at Kettles & Grains or virtually from your location. Together let’s walk towards a world without pancreatic cancer.
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May we always keep Dad alive on in our hearts in the music we hear each day
Donate to help Dawn raise money for Project Purple's Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Turkey Trot 2026’s fundraising campaign.
