Memories

As a CMU alum, I read this morning of the passing of Mr. Ken Stevens. I met Ken at Central. He was assigned to CMU Softball and “Mr. Ken Stvens” as we all called him became part of our team.

We even had a cheer we made up with his name in it. Mr. Ken Stevens traveled with us to Oklahoma for the softball world series where CMU placed 4th in the nation. I’m sure I can speak for my teammates that we are so sorry for the loss of this great person.

He was a great guy who became a great man, photojournalist and father. As always, Fire up Chips!

Ken . . . standing in our kitchen munching tortilla chips and salsa, jumping into the pool with Jeff and Faith, and always, always making us laugh. Our families spent many New Year’s eves together; many at our home, at least one at Double JJ Ranch and three or so on Mackinac Island. Dec. 31, 1999, is especially memorable. We had a large party, inviting too many revelers who over-indulged. When they finally left at 3 a.m., it was Ken and Teresa who stayed and helped us clean up the incredible mess.

We were standing in the living room saying goodbye when Ken glanced outside and said: “Your garage probably isn’t SUPPOSED to be on fire, right?” (Fireworks had been discarded in the trash bin too soon). A few years ago when Ken and Teresa’s own garage and home were damaged in a fire and the family cat was missing, Ken called me to ask if we could come help with the search: “Patti, it’s Ken. So . . . remember New Year’s, 1999?” That incomparable sense of humor is what I will remember . . . with longing.

My deepest condolences to Ken’s family. Such a tragic loss. Ken was a great photographer and one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. I had the honor of working with Ken for many years, but my fondest memory of him involved a photo he took when he wasn’t working. While attending a Grand Haven high school football game, Ken took an amazing photo of my son playing in the marching band. I didn’t ask Ken to take the photo. He just did it and gave me a priceless photo of my son. Thank you, Ken, for making the world a better place.

There was not a kinder soul on this planet. The plum internships around the country for young photojournalists in the 90’s were the huge metropolitan papers, and the Muskegon Chronicle. Ken, Brian and Greg seemingly handpicked photographers in which they saw a lot of heart and a reasonable amount of talent. The moment you arrived in Muskegon, you smelled the paper mill, and you wondered where you had landed. The moment you entered the newsroom you knew.

Ken more than any person I have worked with in 30 years knew people. He had an enormous heart and was selfless to the point that you wondered how he produced such amazing images while constantly giving so much of himself to others. So many of us are driven by ego or ambition. Ken seemed only to be driven by making everyone around him better and making everyone reach the goals they had set out so many years before. If you had a project, Ken insisted on knowing everything about it, and how it could be taken one step further. To make something good something great.

Often times far past deadline you would run into Ken in the darkroom working on making his project better than good. There was an elderly security guard at the paper who carried an enormous clock around his neck which mystified both Ken and myself, and we wondered aloud if actually that guard was not in charge of time itself. “We’ve been waiting for ya!” the guard would bellow if you came in after 10 pm. And it became a running joke between us for many years after, long after I had left the paper and the country.

If we hadn’t spoken in a few years and I had moved on to another country, Ken would check in with “we’ve been waiting for ya!” Little did he know how much we all longed to return to Muskegon. And to the place which made all of us better human beings.

To say we will miss Ken somehow misses the point. We will not miss him because he is so far embedded in who we are. There is a little Ken in all of us. We just have to take the time to find it.

Ken Stevens CMU Alum of the Year 2013