On Tuesday June 20th, Ken Casler, loving father and amazing friend, passed away of esophageal cancer. He had just celebrated his 75th birthday on June 15th and was able to have a great long Zoom visit with his brother and sisters. He was able to spend Father’s Day with his daughters Shay and Rhianna on the land he’s called home for almost half a century. Many in the community have known Ken over the years and been touched by his kindness and generosity. He was a talented carpenter, crafty engineer, a gifted musician, a boat captain extraordinaire, and the best Dad and Grandpa that could be imagined.

He had a passion for the environment and taking care of the land, and for creating a community of loving caring humans.

Ken was preceded in death by his father Bill and mother Vinita. He is survived by his daughters Shay Bachelder and Rhianna Bedient, his grandkids Kayla, Egan, Jenica, Tenley and Kenton, along with 4 siblings and many nieces and nephews who all loved him dearly.

There will be a memorial service at the Gardenia Center on July 14th at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Land Trust Alliance Incorporated.

He always wanted to write his own obituary and that’s exactly what he did and sent to us in an email the day before he passed. So straight from the mouth of Ken Casler:

The Power of Positive Pessimism

True Confessions of a Reformed Doomsday Messiah

Funny thing, it’s the perfect time for true confessions, and the only confession I have to make is that this is a lousy title for what I did with my life. But I did start it and I will finish it.

Short and sweet actually, I write this in the middle, or possibly close to the end of my dance with cancer. I’ve been fortunate, in that I got a fast acting one with no cure.

And my reflection, revelation that I’ve had in the past few days is that there is so much love in my life. I feel like if there was an analogy it would be that I have been awash in love all my life and for some reason I felt that I needed to put a filter up and only take in so much. (Jesse Colin Young is singing right now, “People Let Your Light Shine” – – – poignant.) I feel like I did a pretty good job of letting my light shine, my error, or maybe it’s my lesson right now, “Let the Light Shine In”

Of course, my ego wants to write an epilogue to my epilogue, but honestly, all I have to say is, I have lived a beautiful, fulfilling life – – and I didn’t come into this world with a lifetime warranty.

PPS: The part of me that’s always been connected with spirit, it does have an eternal warranty, so I’ll see you around. :-)

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