The legend of the bombers is a peaceful end to the Winnipeg Free Press

Ken Ploen's life ended peacefully.

The 88-year-old Winnipeg Blue Bombers player died Tuesday at a Winnipeg personal care home after an extended illness.

He suffered from dementia for more than ten years.

“I'm fine,” his widow, Janet Ploen, said Wednesday. “I am sad and happy. I am so glad that Ken is out of his silence and misery and is not confined to a wheelchair every day. I'm happy about it, but he's really going to be missed.”

Janet Ploen is grateful for the support from many well-wishers.

“They keep their distance, but I've gotten a lot of great messages from people and my son-in-law (Randy Hosegood) has been helping me out here,” she said. “I don't know what I would have done without him because my daughter Carol (Hosegood-Ploen) left for Costa Rica on Monday. He's coming home tomorrow… So I've had a lot of help and support.”

Ken Ploen is survived by his son Doug, daughters Carol and Kendra, and eight grandchildren.

Funeral plans are pending.

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Phil Minnick appreciated the legend of Ken Ploen.

Minnick, seven years Ploen's junior, was a high school football player in Iowa City, Iowa, in the late 1950s, when Ploen played quarterback for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

He soon moved north to Winnipeg and became Ploen's teammate with the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

On Wednesday, Minnick was among the mourners at the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

“He was a big star,” Minnick, 81, said from his Pinawa home. “I was in high school and I followed his career in college.

“That's why I came to Winnipeg to play because he told me about the Bombers and how good he was. So I said, “Yeah, that sounds great to me.” Kenny is the reason I came here and played for 10 years.”

After his college career at Northern Iowa State from 1965-1973, Minnick, a linebacker for the Blue Bombers, said his old teammate had a rare gift for leadership.

“He was a wonderful person,” Minnick said. “He did everything right on the field and even better off the field. He was friendly with everyone at events and I don't think he ever had an enemy anywhere. He was just one of those people who got along with everybody and everybody liked him.”

An excellent runner and all-around athlete, Minnick said Ploen has a brain to match his athleticism.

“What impressed me was how intelligently he used the players he had,” Minnick said. “He knew how to exploit the runs and he knew who was going to be a good receiver. He was a very, very smart quarterback who knew all his players and knew how to use them. It was very important.”

Another former Winnipeg teammate, Noel Dunford, knew Ploen by reputation while growing up in Kenora, Ont., and was not disappointed when he was added to the field.

“When he signed with Winnipeg, I came later in '63, and I was very impressed with him – he was a very solid guy,” Dunford said.

“He was a good leader and a very good player. He wasn't the best passer, but he was still good and he could get the ball there and of course he could run, so he was a perfect fit for the Canadian Football League.”

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