goodbye Ken...

Mikey P · Sep 13, 2013

If you had up to 5 minutes to speak about what Ken meant to you, what would you say?

I want to publish your comments on our front page so please take time gathering your thoughts..

bob vawter · Sep 13, 2013

Ken had that ability to make everyone try harder......to be a better person..
not that it really worked on any of us heathens .......
but he was patient.....it was that smile!

Buck1955 · Sep 13, 2013

He is one of you guys I wish I had met in person. Top Notch individual.

davegillfishing · Sep 13, 2013

Thanks for the years of unconditional help and guidance..never asked for anything in return for all the help and advice and phone calls
Thanks!!

Larry B · Sep 13, 2013

Talked to Ken on the phone a few years ago and he was very helpful and gave great advise on the industry.

.... while Peeing into the vacuum hose

Doug Cox · Sep 13, 2013

Ken came across as an all around good guy, Never got upset. Was just "One of the Boys" I never talked to him personally but have felt a great loss in his death.

John Olson · Sep 14, 2013

He was a friend the minute he met you, nonjudgmental and forgiving. A man who knew who he was self confident and humorous and above all giving. The world is a lesser place without him and I will miss him. BSBD Ken, See Ya when I see Ya!

Jeremy · Sep 14, 2013

Ken gave his time, attention and sound reasoning to anyone that asked for it. He truly tried to make the world a better place. Mr. Snow had a great work ethic, a caring heart, a mind for business and a willingness to improve himself as much as he tried to improve the lives of those around him. This is one of his finest qualities. As a business owner I know that at times it can be difficult to "manage yourself". Ken was always willing to look at himself objectively and critically and even more admirably: Actually put in the work. I know Ken would want us all to live our lives happily, abundantly and strive to be our best selves.

His legacy isn't just the industry that he helped to shape... It's the people (and by extension their families, employees, and their employees' families) who's lives he touched by helping them stay in this competitive industry with his sage advice and willingness to share his experience, knowledge and considerable abilities with anyone who had a desire to learn. We should all hope to have such a positive impact in any area of our lives.

Rest in peace, Ken. You, Sir, will be missed.

Desk Jockey · Sep 14, 2013

I feel a great loss; Ken was a mentor, a friend, a brother and like any time you lose someone close it hurts. We grew up about the same times and we’d laugh about the hair and clothes we wore, the things we did as teens. He had many similar experiences yet he was much different than I.

He had much more compassion for people and for animals. Ken wasn’t your average guy by any means he was above average, far above the average guy.

Ken always made time for people, he made you feel as if what you were working on was as important to him, as it was to you. He truly wanted to help and became invested in your project. Sometimes days would pass and I’d receive a call a text or email about a change or a phrase he thought needed changed.

He had so much fun here, he would get chastised for wasting his time here and might stay always for a few days or a week but he couldn’t stay away. Soon he’d be back on, posting and being one of the guys.

Humble, he never tooted his own horn instead he’d compliment you for how well you were doing. He had enough confidence that didn’t need to his ego take control. He also had such a good sense of humor he took shots all the time hear but just laughed them off.

I don’t think I’ve met a better man; he was the best we had here on MB. He was one of the best our industry had.

The world has lost a kind caring compassionate man and I will miss him dearly.

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bob vawter · Sep 14, 2013

very nice Richard

Jeremy · Sep 14, 2013

Oddly enough, Richard, you have a lot of the qualities that you admired in Ken.

Askal · Sep 14, 2013

A kind caring compassionate man. it's very odd that I did not know him well at all but I still feel angry that he was taken at such a young age. A loss to us all.

Brian H · Sep 15, 2013

I have been trying to put into words what I am feeling. Many of you have said exactly what and how I feel about Ken.

Many a time I would go to him for the right way to put something into words and he would help me. Now is one of those times. I would know what i wanted to say and he would help me in writing it down so that it made sense and wasn't a lot of rambling. What was also nice is that he would have me proof read and edit things that he wrote and i would do the same thing for him.

We both liked to read and had similar vocabularies and education. We would frustrate those around us at times as we went back and forth trying to find the exact word to use in a certain situations. A co worker once thought we were trying to show off when doing that, but really it was more of our way of pushing each other and ourselves.

We spent a lot of time over the last 25 years that I have known him talking about work and life in general. For years we would meet once a week after work at a local pool hall and talk about anything and everything. There wasn't anything we wouldn't talk about and more often then not, it was not work related. He was always a patient listener, and offered advice when I asked for it. He would even let me win at pool once in a while.

We cheered for the same teams, so if we weren't watching a big game together I could always count on a text from him or a quick response to my text to him when one of our teams had a good play . (Or the Detroit Lions blew another game)

I remember the first time I met him, it was at an information meeting for the Michigan Chapter of the UCCI. I was working for another company and knew who he was but had never met him. At that meeting I thought he was a pompous ass!! We laughed about it many times over the years and I came to realize that he was just being his same confident self.

I've been very fortunate working with my best friend for the last 20 plus years. He was always there for me when I needed him both personally and professionally, sometimes telling me things i didn't want to know but needed to hear.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have caught myself thinking that I would ask Ken about something, then remembering that I can't do that anymore. Now I have to rely on my memory of him and ask myself WWKD (What Would Ken Do) when confronted with a problem. Just this past Friday when I felt a situation getting out of control and I felt him telling me how to handle it.

I am a much better man for knowing him and I miss him.

-JB- · Sep 15, 2013

Great post Brian, I can only image how difficult this is right now for you. Please know I will continue to pray God's peace and contentment will wash over you as you learn to live life differently over the coming days weeks and years, it will not be easy, but with God's help, and Ken's spirit for offering hope and tenacity engrained in your soul I KNOW you'll forage on even stronger to insure that not one moment of Ken's young life was lived in vain.
Peace and love to you and yours.

WWKD?

billyeadon · Sep 15, 2013

Brian was mentioning UCCI and I first ran into Ken when ISCT and UCCI merged. My partner and I were in charge of ISCT and there was a lot of bad feelings that UCCI had lost there local feel. Things were very disorganized and both ISCT and UCCI were losing members.

Ken was asked to chair the whole mess and make sure it was done in a business like manner. Ken really didn't want to do it because he had his hands full with running a very large business. I think he realized that if he didn't do it no one would. It was just one of the many times Ken gave back to the industry.

The book I am currently reading Give and Take should have a chapter on Ken.

When Ken first joined Mikey's it was because someone told him that this board was bashing his company for their pricing model. He could have easily ignored it as a bunch of losers. Instead he came on made friends and till his last breath was helping people.

Nick Paolella printed out a text he received the Friday before Kens death. He cherishes that text.

ken was a special human being.

Steve Toburen · Sep 15, 2013

Mikey P said:
If you had up to 5 minutes to speak about what Ken meant to you, what would you say?

Unusually for me I'm at a loss for words. I sent this quick email off to ken on the Friday before he died when I still didn't know how grim his prognosis was. I hope he was able to read it. I'd don't think he would have minded if I shared it on here.

The heading was "Keep your pecker up, mate!

Hey Ken,
That is what they say in polite company in New Zealand instead of "get well soon". So either way just a note to tell you Sioux and I are thinking of you and hoping for the very best.

I'm assuming with the health issues you won't be in Las Vegas next week. I gotta say one of the VERY FEW highlights of Las Vegas and Connections for me is getting to see you. So bummer- I'll give you a rain check till next year.

Of the over 3,000 people we've had attend SFS I'd rank you in the top 10 (not percent either) for both your business skills and your general all-around "good guy" qualities. So please beat this thing- there are too few like you around!

Steve

PS No need to reply- just wanted to share these thoughts with you.

ruff · Sep 15, 2013

Simply: Ken was always willing to help.

Larry Cobb · Sep 15, 2013

Ken always had that infectious smile that put people at ease.

He loved people & animals dearly,

which showed his compassion and untiring ability to offer help to other cleaners.

I was always in awe of his marketing knowledge, honed by working for a large company.

Larry

tmdry · Sep 15, 2013

I'm w/out words...

Ken helped me from the beginning when I started my business.

He was always willing to help, and we shared ideas to help our companies grow.

I also told myself that one day I'd love to meet him and his operation, it would be a honor.

I'm just very sad now, it's terrible losing someone, even someone you never met, but wished you did.

RIP Mr. Snow and thank you for everything.

Jim Pemberton · Sep 16, 2013

I have struggled with what I wanted to say here, and I guess I needed to wait until after the memorial service on Sunday.

I think I have also avoided this because in many ways it feels like a final "goodbye", and I really can't let myself say good bye to Ken at any level.

What I would say had I been able to stand in front of the group on Sunday, or any group on any day, about this man might go a little like this:

A cynic once said that "friends are people you like, even though you know them so well!"

I'm afraid that sometimes over the years I've defined some of my friends within that unkind framework; I don't doubt some of my friends have defined me that way as well.

But no one who knew Ken could define him that way. That's because Ken was the type of man who, as you got through his layers of shyness and humility, had even greater beauty within him than you first could have known in meeting him.

When I met Ken Snow, it was over lunch at a UCCI meeting. I didn't completely understand his position with Hagopians because he didn't want to talk about who he was as much as what he could do to help the association. For some reason a question about math came up, and he figured the answer out in his head before I could reach for my calculator. I asked him about his ability with math, and he just said offhandedly that he could figure dimensions of rugs pretty quickly and had a knack for it. I started giving him several math problems, and he answered them so quickly that I gave up with some laughter.

I thought to myself: "How could a guy so good with numbers also be so engaging and interesting?"

I hadn't yet realized that I didn't scratch the surface with him that day.

For the next several years, I worked with Ken as he traveled all over the regionthe UCCI covered helping set up chapters of the association in areas from Minnesota to Buffalo New York. He gave of his professional knowledge, his personal energy, but mostly his heart and soul. There is a select group of people who left their mark on that association, and to list them puts me at risk of overlooking one, but all would agree that Ken's role was beyond evalution.

I presented Ken with a token of appreciation that the supporing associate members (suppliers) always gave the UCCI president at the end of their term. I said a few kind words about Ken's unselfishness, especially considering where he was in the industry and how little we could give him versus how much he gave us.

When I went to give him the customary handshake, he embraced me. I will hold that moment of his perfect expression of affection for me in my heart as long as I live.

I'm grateful that Bill Yeadon shared the story of how Ken chaired the transition that joined the ISCT, ACT, and UCCI. That merger of those groups was very contentious, and only Ken's example of unselfishness and his ability to see the big picture enabled it to move forward.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I was one of those people who fought that merger, and it was only my overwhelming respect for Ken that made me finally shut my mouth and support the "greater good", which was what Ken was always all about.

I'm grateful that he joined up here on Mikeysboard. For all of my feelings of closeness to Ken, I think that after the merger I probably would have lost touch with him. Changes in business, changes in our lives, or even just the tyranny of the daily urgent but not important things seem to always put the important things...and important people...aside till they drift away.

Because I could find Ken here again, I found a way to reconnect and once again grow and learn because I could "be with" this remarkable, remarkable man.

Then, in the twinkling of an eye...he was gone from us.

I can't say anything as beautifully and well as those who have posted before me here, or in the other threads about Ken. I do know that I am grateful for all of you that have helped me through my grieving by sharing your own feelings, and your compassionate wisdom with me.

I want to share something Ken posted here on July 5th...just two months before he left us:

I had mentioned that Ed Valentine had comforted and supported me when my father was diagnosed with cancer that I feared was going to end his life back in 1988, and how kind it was of him because I had treated Ed harshly not long before that.

This is what Ken said about that story:

"Wow Jim, thanks for sharing that. You proved a point I've learned many times over the years that the true measure of a person shines when there is tragedy (or emergency) ~ everything else is just noise. Thanks again! Ken"

The true measure of Ken showed through that day...for years before that day...and for the all too brief weeks after that day...and I feel deeply in my heart...for eternity.

I love you Ken.

Mikey P · Sep 17, 2013

I updated the Main Page article with some more comments as well as my last text to Ken...

Hoody · Sep 17, 2013

I've tried to think of what to type on this post for a few days now, and even now I'm having trouble putting my thoughts together, but here goes.

I had talked with Bawb earlier last week, and planned on driving up for Ken's memorial service. Saturday night my son came down with a flu that is going around and we ended up in the hospital over night. As morbid as it sounds while I was sitting in the hospital room I imaged how much love surrounded Ken at his time of passing, and large smile filled my face. I'm a man of faith, and I hope he can finally see how much he meant to so many people and feel that love even after death. I can only hope to have that much love surround me when I begin to make the journey at the end of my life.

Ken and I had planned on meeting each other over lunch twice, the first time I had a family emergency happen and we had to cancel, and the second time he had a commitment, and had to cancel. Unfortunately we never got around to rescheduling a third time to meet, and I honestly regret that.

When I logged in the morning Ken passed and saw Brian's post my heart literally sank into my stomach. It took me a few minutes to actually click on the post in fear of what it might say, but seeing that Brian had posted it I knew it wasn't good news. As I read his post, and the posts that followed I couldn't help but start to cry. After I gathered myself I was sitting here wondering why I was so upset over a man I really didn't know, but only from an online forum. I've read all of the posts, and I've read a lot of the condolences, and suddenly Ken means a great deal more to me than I could have imagined. I had a lot of respect for him while he was living and admired his willingness to help others. From everything I've read I have an even greater respect for him not just because of his success in business but in life as well. I firmly believe his professional success had a lot to do with his personal success, in short you get out of life what you put in. No one is ever going to be able to replace Ken, but I personally now strive to show more compassion, kindness and generosity to those who enter my life. I'll never forget Ken, and I can't imagine how those close to him are feeling, but from someone who barely knew him I know they had a treasure with Ken that the richest man in world couldn't replace.

Thanks to all of those who shared their experiences of Ken. Those amazing stories have helped myself in ways that I can't put into words.

Desk Jockey · Sep 17, 2013

I did much the same Hoody, I didn't want to look because I knew it was the worst. I read it and it choked me up and I tried to tell my wife but could get it out all at one time. She just hugged me and tears welled up in my eyes. All for a man I had never met, yet he felt like a brother to me.........I feel as if I lost a brother.

Like Brian Hanna and others have said, I'm a better man having known Ken. God bless him.

Hoody · Sep 17, 2013

After sitting here thinking more Ive concluded his story and life make me want to be a better father, son, grandson, friend ect. To look for good in people in this often dark world we live in. To find that good and help them use it so we all have a brighter world to live in. If I can do that with myself and with others then my life will be even more blessed than it already is.

That really says all of my feelings in the shortest way possible.

goodbye Ken...

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