Long-time Canyon Laker, Friday Flyer writer Ken Cable dies at 91

Kenneth Martin Cable, age 91, of Canyon Lake passed away on March 26 in Winchester, Calif. of natural causes. Son of Fred and Audrey Cable, Ken was born on Jan. 26, 1932 in Los Angeles and grew up in Bell Gardens, Calif.

Ken was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, and is survived by his sons Mark and Jeff, Mark’s wife Jill, grandsons Kenneth, Daniel and Zachary, brother Robert Cable, sisters Alberta Ecklund and Carol Brocklesby and many nieces and nephews.

Ken Cable

Ken enlisted in the United States Army in 1949 and was stationed in Okinawa during the time of the Korean War. In 1952, he was honorably discharged from the service as a staff sergeant. Ken was married to Dorothy from Feb. 20, 1954 until her death in 2015.

Soon after leaving the Army, Ken joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in June 1953. He held a number of positions during his 35-year career with the department. He began his career in the Jail Division before going to work at Wayside Honor Rancho and East Los Angeles Patrol. Ken achieved the rank of sergeant in 1957 at Firestone Station, and soon after helped to develop the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau.

In 1962, Ken was promoted to lieutenant at Lakewood Station, and later became Commander of the Sheriff’s Academy as a captain. He went on to work for the Detective Division before returning to Lakewood Station as captain, where he was involved in implementing the Sky Knight program.

He was selected to attend the FBI National Academy in 1976 by the Sheriff’s Department for a special training for law enforcement officers with the bureau. Ken became Chief of the Technical Services Division in 1980 and was ultimately named Chief of Administration for the department.

After his retirement in 1988, he went on to work as a senior computer consultant for Los Angeles County for another four years. Ken earned his Master’s Degree in Public Administration from USC in 1972 and taught Criminal Science at California State University Los Angeles for a period of time in the 1970s.

Ken enjoyed the outdoors and gardening. He was also an author and along with writing some outdoor adventure novels, he wrote several short stories. Ken wrote various articles for law enforcement publications, and local magazines. He was a regular letters-to-the-editor contributor to the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper.

Ken was best known in Canyon Lake for his different columns he wrote for the Canyon Lake Friday Flyer. His most-recent column, Ken’s Korner, dabbled with all sorts of fun Canyon Lake topics. Earlier he had a travel column, Notes from the Road, and a pet and wild animal column entitled Wild Side of Canyon Lake.

Ken and Dorothy lived in Southern California and were residents of Canyon Lake for over 40 years where they served in a number of community services and clubs as well as with the Canyon Lake Chamber of Commerce. He and Dorothy helped organize several concerts for the Canyon Lake Fine Arts Guild and Ken also did some writing for the Canyon Lake Travel Club.

Ken and Dorothy enjoyed traveling and spending time with family and friends in Canyon Lake, at their ranch in Central California and their condominium in Maui.

Burial will be at Riverside National Cemetery on Thursday, April 20, at 2:00 p.m. A memorial service will take place at the Canyon Lake Community Church on April 22 at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to The Sheriff’s Relief Association of Los Angeles California, Inc. at www.sheriffsrelief.org.