Verlin Roy Kercher of Colorado Springs passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in the company of his loving wife of more than 66 years, Karolyn.

Verlin was born on July 25, 1937, in Eaton, Colorado to Charlie and Lydia Kercher, the youngest of their seven children.  Early life on a sugar beet farm forever shaped his strong work ethic and commitment to family.  He famously learned to drive a tractor at age seven and recalled to his many friends the challenges and hardships he experienced during that era including the famous Blizzard of 1947.  

He was immensely proud of his older brothers, Floyd and Elmer, both decorated World War II veterans who fought in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. Determined to forge his own path, though, he enlisted in the Navy in 1955 and served for four years as an electrician aboard the destroyer, USS Eaton.  During this time, he survived a deadly collision of the Eaton with the battleship USS Wisconsin.  

In early 1959, while traveling cross-country by train to a new assignment aboard the Pacific-based supply ship, USS Pictor, he met Karolyn along the way in Wyoming, and it was love at first sight for both of them.  They stayed in contact during deployment to the Far East where memories of port calls in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines remained with him for life. 

He left the Navy in late 1959 and married Karolyn on December 6, 1959, in Hotchkiss, Colorado and moved to Greeley where he worked in construction.  They wasted little time starting a family, with daughter Becky Renee born in 1961, Gregory Ray in 1962, both in Greeley, and Terri Ruth in 1963, born in Ft Collins.

In 1965, the Kercher family moved to Colorado Springs where Verlin continued his career in construction and worked on large projects, including the Antlers Hotel reconstruction and US Air Force Academy’s Sijan Hall dormitory.

He began working for the Meadow Gold dairy as a delivery man next, priding himself on his spotless safety record through legendary blizzards and representing the Teamsters’ Union in contract negotiations.  Throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, he was deeply involved in his children’s activities and the community serving as a youth sports coach and referee/umpire.

In 1983, he and Karolyn bought a local Daylight Donuts franchise on North Academy Boulevard that they successfully operated for three years.  After this, they moved to Escondido, California, and other locations in San Diego’s North County serving as property managers in several manufactured housing communities.

The Kerchers returned to their native Colorado and Colorado Springs in 2004.  In his semi-retirement, Verlin worked for Sears in hardware and electrical equipment.  He also continued his life-long love of golf, playing with friends and family and always making new friends on the links.  

He and Karolyn renewed their love of Air Force sports joining family members at football, basketball, and ice hockey games.  He and Karolyn served as substitute parents and grandparents to hundreds of USAF Academy cadets over five decades through their sports and family connections to the Academy.  They always enjoyed participating in the lives of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, especially when several of them returned to also live in the Springs.  

Deeply affected by his early years in the US Navy, Verlin was in many ways the patriarch of a family devoted to service.  His oldest daughter, Becky, was a career public educator and administrator retiring from Academy District 20 in 2022.  His son, Greg, served 37 years on active duty in the US Navy, achieving the rank of Captain and commanding two nuclear submarines.  His son-in-law, Marty, served for 41 years in the US Air Force, two of his grandsons, Sean and Andrew, are veterans of the US Air Force and Marine Corps, respectively, and his grandson-in-law, Teddy Seiter, is an active-duty Marine.

Verlin will be remembered as a man whose world was filled with friends.  Always warm and engaging, he loved to meet new people and share stories with them be it on the job, the golf course, at an Air Force hockey game, or any other circumstance, including his final days in hospital care.  He lives in the memories of the thousands whose day was just a little lighter and happier because of him.

As the last surviving member of his immediate family, Verlin was pre-deceased by Lillian, Elmer, Floyd, Violet, Vivian, and Marvin.  He and Karolyn also tragically lost their youngest daughter, Terri, to leukemia in 1978 at age 15.  Following cremation, Verlin’s ashes will be interred at Terri’s gravesite.

Verlin is survived by his wife of more than 66 years, Karolyn, his daughter, Becky Renee France and her husband, Marty France, and their sons, Sean and Andrew (Alyssa) France, all of Colorado Springs.  He is also survived by their son, Gregory Ray Kercher, his wife, Melissa, both of Springfield, Virginia, and grandchildren, Mikayla (Theodore) Seiter, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, and Jared (Kirstin) Kercher, of Clewiston, Florida.  He has five great-grandchildren:  Carter, Connor, Nikola, and Adelaide France, all of Colorado Springs, and Liam Seiter, of Waxhaw.In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Verlin’s honor to the Dementia Society of Americaor the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.