Ken Shilay, Sr. - R.I.P.

Ken Shilay, Sr. passed away today after a two year fight with lung cancer. Senior, as he was known, was my former landlord's (Ken Shilay, Jr.) dad. I got to know Senior at family parties and working with him on Junior's dream house, aka Shilay's Tara, aka The Property. Senior and I didn't see eye-to-eye on politics or some of his ideas, but he was one of the hardest working people I've ever met. He has probably been described as cranky or irascible or worse, but underneath that gruff exterior, he had a soft soft both for Monica and his grand-daughter Amanda. Until Senior got sick, he gave up almost every weekend to help Junior with the new house. It was almost comical to watch Senior and Junior argue about the house - they both wanted it to be right and, of course, both believed they alone were right.

I think the two things I will remember most about Senior are his hard work and desire for things to be done the right way. For any of his other faults, the world could use more people with those two. Here are a couple pictures of him working at the Property.