Ken Riffe

Ken was my father's friend. My dad would be 83 years old if he were still alive (he died seventeen years ago) and Ken was 86. He died Monday.

Ken was one of the kindest men I have known. He was a man whoa lways smiled, and never complained. He was the janitor at the church and school, and more recently, my brother's "right arm" man is doing the mundane chores that are part of maintaining a church facility.

Ken found out he had terminal cancer about a month ago. He ended up having surgery and being bed-ridden because of the cancer lodging in his spine. He was in alot of pain in his final days.

I got to see him a few days before Thanksgiving. I realized how valuable people like Ken are to a pastor. They are the supportive ones behind the scenes who do the "little things" that make our job easier. Ken was that to both my dad and now my brother.

Ken was my friend, too, and I what I will remember was our embrace before I left him and his smile as we left the room. I will miss him.