Ken Gochenour retired from the National Park Service after working as a ranger for about 14 years.

Gochenour retires after 14 years patrolling the Blue Ridge Parkway

When retiring Park Ranger Ken Gochenour began with work with the Blue Ridge Parkway in May 1993, he brought experience and brushes with fame with him. Prior to taking the local position, he worked in locations including Manassus National Battlefield and the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.

At the age of 57, Gochenour has reached the mandatory retirement age for Park rangers. His last day of work for the Parkway was Oct. 29.

Why the Parkway?

While working for the Pentagon, Gochenour said, "One morning I woke up and asked myself what I was doing there. I came from a rural background. I was raised on a 200-acre farm in Bunker Hill, West Virginia. I left that job and a friend I worked with said, ‘Well, Ken, you've always wanted to be a park ranger. You're not going to like what I have to tell you. You're going to have to start all over again' because I had a break in service..."

He joined the Parkway as a ranger when Gary Everhart was serving as both the superintendent of the Parkway and the director of the National Park Service.

"I've had the privilege to work on the longest and recreational roadway in the United States, if not the world," Gochenour commented. "Our job basically, if you read our mission, it says to investigate crimes committed against the United States..."

Making mention of changes, Gochenour stated, "We're in an era of time that right is justified as wrong and wrong is portrayed as right. That's from the law enforcement standpoint of view with the court system and the justice system the way it is. Duties haven't changed, but there's a different world out there. What I mean is, there's more high profile infractions of crime."

 

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