July9th,1956~March1st,2008
Out of the depths of my heart i want to thank each and every one of you that have come together to celebrate the life of our dear friend Ken. This is such a great tribute to a wonderful man.
Ken was a very humble man and i am sure he would be saying right now "I am not worthy"...but all who knew him would have to disagree. His support, kindness , friendship , loyalty , and generosity were what made him loved by so many. He will truly be missed but his spirit will forever abide with us.
I would like to share with you the man that I knew and cared so deeply for. Ken and I first became friends here at railbirds in September of 2007.... We were playing at the same table and I noticed he was from Fort Erie which is 20 minutes away from me. ...Buffalo Ny ,where I live ,and Fort Erie Ontario are separated only by the Niagara River and the Peace Bridge. ..We chatted at the tables and did a friends list request. A few PM's back and forth and we became friends.
Ken was such a fun loving man and he we had a lot in common so we "talked" through PM's alot. He even asked me "out on a date".....the datenight2 tournament. In response to his request i wrote a blog accepting his offer. http://www.railbirds.com/blog/126175/datenight-acceptance.html ( if ya wanna see it)
His response:
thank you ucanseemenow wow now that was creative
I was going on a date with a fellow DOG PACK member ooowwwoooooo
Just too cool !
Date Night #2 on January 19th Was a "night to remember" Ken left it up to me to decide what to wear. I decided to go with the nurse avatar at fulltilt, so i got us an outfit to wear....or two
This started alot of "friendly flirting" as it did for many railbirds that were going to play in the datenight tournament. I will never forget when Ken sent a PM to the wrong person that night, intending it for me but it went to someone else.
Bad puppy ! ! ! LOL but he was soooooo much fun ! 
...And, did I not do the same thing not too long after that ? ! ? ! ....OH SINISTER , will never forget either! She got a pm meant for Ken that was a tad bit racier..oh how we all laughed that night ! !
ROFLMAO
The laughter and smiles brought joy into my life. He was such a great friend to have.
Ken belonged to alot of other poker forums and was well liked there too. His integrity was well spoken of at all of the forums.
This was so true ! A man that could be trusted is priceless.
He invited me to join a few other forums but he always said RAILBIRDS was the best. We spent many nights playing in the same tournaments and railing each other. We would always say "meet ya at the final table".
We did just that one night! We were both playing in the top ranking freeroll for Pink Cow poker and ended heads-up at the final table.
Ken said I "showed him who the big dog was that night"
January16th Ken played in the top 100 ranking for 2007 10K freeroll . I was there all the way with him. It was the night of his biggest win ever online.
note "i am not worthy"
He finished in 4th place for $700 ! ooooWWWOOOoooo ! ! !
He was so proud and I was proud of him. He told me I should be playing it, not him, because my game was better than his. I had faith in him and i told him so. He played a great game! Out of generosity and the goodness of his heart , he transferred some money to me ,out of that win, so that we could play in the Railbirds private tournaments together. We both loved these tournaments. The competition is great. They are fun and friendly and we railed each other in every one. We also usually played the $.50 MTT at pokerstars everynight, and sometimes the $.25 at 10m. He always did well in the $.50 cent tourney and his biggest win there was 3rd place for $98.
codman625@PS
He was always there for me too. Railing me , giving me encouragement and chatting at the tables.
We had a few things that we would always say to each other while railing. Always a big ooWWWOOOOooo for the Pack, the usual gl , nh, gg, etc. But we also had a few things that we would type and no one but the two of us knew what it meant. I know some of you have seen it and even questioned what that meant. These were our "private public messages" mu nu wu lu , =====>>>>> ^ .
On the night of March 1st Ken and I both got into the Crazy Canuck's tournament and were railing and talking in PM's. It was about 8:30 and I had just made a comment at Ken's table... ======>>>>>> ^ and someone had asked (possibly joroco) what that meant. A few at the table were trying to figure it out. I sent Ken a PM saying "roflmbo", and another saying" i'll never tell". I sat there watching his table and noticed he "timed out" of a hand. I didnt get anymore PM's from him and a short time later he was logged off Railbirds and sat out the rest of the tournament..........He never did read my last 2 PM's to him.
Three days later and I had heard nothing from him. That was not like him at all. I began to worry. On the 4th morning I had a strange dream about Ken and I woke up with a feeling of dread. It's something I cannot describe but I knew in my heart something was wrong. I don't even know why I did it, but I went online and found a website for Fort Erie newspaper. I clicked on Obituaries and saw his name! My heart broke!
I have so many good memories that I will hold dear to my heart always.
If tears were a stairway
and memories a lane
I'd walk right up to heaven
And bring you back again.
I will never forget you and you will be sadly missed my dear friend. Railbirds has lost a truly wonderful man. Let us all remember him with a smile and hold him in our hearts. The pain and emptiness I felt when I first learned Ken was gone, is being filled with joyful memories.
His Memorial Card had the following verse on it :
Fill not your hearts with
pain and sorrow
remember me in every
tomorrow
Remember the joy, the
laughter, the smiles, I've
only gone to rest for a while.
Although my leaving
causes pain and grief, my
going has eased my hurt
and given me relief. So
dry your eyes and
remember me, not as i am
now, but as i used to be.
Because i will remember
you all and look on with a
smile, Understand, in
your hearts, I've only
gone to rest a while. As
long as i have the love of
each of you, I can live my
life in the hearts of all of
you.
Ken
July9th, 1956 - March 1st, 2008
With a smile 
R.I.P. My dear friend. oooWWWOOOoooo =====>>>>> ^ mu nu wu lu
And once again THANK YOU all , i just can't express my gratitide for all of the love, kindness and support you have all shown.
I LOVE YOU ALL.......Claire
© Copyright 2008
39 comments
wow,,, Hun,, thats powerful i didnt know him , but i fell like i do now,,, thanks, for a great feeling inside this gave me,
and i so sorry for your loss,, and railbirds loss as well,,,,,, must have been one helluva guy,, and because of that he is in one special place
this brought me closer to tears than anything in a LONG time
Well said C..... so sorry for the loss of your good friend
God rest his soul
This is just so beautiful. Thank you for sharing so much of Otis/Ken with many others here at RB.
Claire. So much of your heart and your soul you have shared with us! Thank you so very very much for allowing us to see this very special man in a very personal way!
I Love you Sweetie!
I'm new to the site, but I know I've met a ton of wonderful people on here just like he sounds. It has been an honour to play in the In Remembrance of Otis19 tournament. He sounds like he was a great man and this is a wonderful way to remember him. Wish I'd joined sooner and met him too.
Be strong and know he will always be with you on the felts and off.
Wow.. thank you so much for sharing these special moments with Ken.
Cherish those memories forever and keep them close to your heart!
Rest
Wow.. thank you so much for sharing these special moments with Ken.
Cherish those memories forever and keep them close to your heart!
Rest in