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Thank you for your support during this difficult time. Please enhance this tribute to Kenneth by adding your memories and photos. *Please be aware that in order to avoid spam all entries are reviewed prior to posting (so may not be seen immediately).
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Neptune Society of Northern California - Marin County
1780 Grant Avenue
Novato,
CA
94945
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Memories & Candles
Previous
“I woke up today barely able to get out of bed, and thought of how much I miss Dr. Fye. Over the past year and a half I've been getting the run...Read More »
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1 of 66 | Posted by: Lynnette M Frary - Novato, CA
“I just learned of Dr. Fye's passing and was deeply saddened that I never got to tell him how healthy I am and how well my life turned out. Ken took...Read More »
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2 of 66 | Posted by: Wendy Wallbridge - Novato, CA
“Dr Fye was most amazing Dr I ever encountered! I was miss diagnosed with Lupus and Dr Fye got to the bottom of it and found out I had Hashimotos...Read More »
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3 of 66 | Posted by: Anabela Henriques-Carson - CA
“Dr Fye was my physician in Marin and I followed him back to UCSF when he switched. He was an astute brilliant physician who saved my life. I moved...Read More »
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4 of 66 | Posted by: Harriet - now in los angeles, CA
“Words cannot express my deepest sorrow in this difficult time of sadness of the loss of Dr. Fye. He was truly a wonderful, brilliant, caring doctor...Read More »
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5 of 66 | Posted by: Cindy Hume - Marysville, CA
“Through the years, he continued to give his time, energy, and expertise to refer, follow through viewing me as a challenge not a problem patient....Read More »
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6 of 66 | Posted by: Cindy Hume - Marysville, CA
“Through the years, he continued to give his time, energy, and expertise to refer, follow through viewing me as a challenge not a problem patient....Read More »
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7 of 66 | Posted by: Cindy Hume - Marysville, CA
“Words cannot express my deepest sorrow in this difficult time of sadness of the loss of Dr. Fye. He was truly a wonderful, brilliant, caring doctor...Read More »
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8 of 66 | Posted by: Cindy Hume - Marysville, CA
“TO TARYN:
As I stated in Dr. Fye's Memory Book, I waited for Dr. Fye to begin his practice at UCSF. I saw him on his third day of his new practice...Read More »
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9 of 66 | Posted by: cindy hume - Marysville, CA
“I just learned of Ken's illness and his passing. What a loss to the world of medicine. As a primary care physician in Marin, I had numerous instances...Read More »
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10 of 66 | Posted by: Milton Estes - Mill Valley, CA
“My mother suffered from lupus. Dr. Fye was not the primary rheumatologist treating my mother. She was on a collision course with death from being...Read More »
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11 of 66 | Posted by: Joel Myles - Santa Rosa, CA
“I am sad to have just learned of Dr. Fye's death, I knew he was sick, and the prognosis wasn't good, many times I would call or look online to find...Read More »
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12 of 66 | Posted by: Lynnette Frary - Novato, CA
“TO TARYN:
As I stated in Dr. Fye's Memory Book, I waited for Dr. Fye to begin his practice at UCSF. I saw him on his third day of his new practice...Read More »
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13 of 66 | Posted by: Cindy Hume - Marysville, CA
“i miss you more every day pop
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14 of 66 | Posted by: cece - his youngest daughter
“I was very saddened to belatedly learn of Dr. Fye's passing. As my rheumatologist, he was patient, empathetic and obviously loved his work. He was a...Read More »
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15 of 66 | Posted by: Eleni Sotos
“To Dr. Fye's family /friends: Thank you so much for sharing this website . It means a lot to me . I didn't learn of Dr.Fye's passing until his...Read More »
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16 of 66 | Posted by: Patricia Dolan - San Francisco, CA
“Ken was special and always will be to all of us that were lucky enough to know him and train with him. He taught us so much, about rheumatology,...Read More »
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17 of 66 | Posted by: Mary Nakamura - San Francisco, CA
“Désolée d'être en retard verser nos présentateur te Très Sincères condoléances.
La famille est de tout coeur avec moi pour partager ta peine ...Read More »
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18 of 66 | Posted by: Jean Mathieu Lerusse 
“I'm absolutely devastated. Dr. Kenneth Fye was an absolute inspiration to me. Who can forget that twinkle in the eye that was so Ken Fye?? His...Read More »
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19 of 66 | Posted by: Jennifer Gorman - seattle, WA
“My name is David Daikh. I am a rheumatologist on the faculty at UCSF who, like probably everyone who ever spent time with him, consider myself...Read More »
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20 of 66 | Posted by: David Daikh - San Francisco, CA
“He was like family to my family. So, I lost a small piece of family.
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21 of 66 | Posted by: claire stone - martine, CA
“I am sorry he passed away. I only saw him a few times, but he felt, to me, like a close friend. I will always remember him.
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22 of 66 | Posted by: Madelyn Stone - Martinez, CA
“I was very saddened to hear of Ken's passing.
In 1998 when I was feeling miserable and didn't know what was wrong, he put his brain to work and...Read More »
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23 of 66 | Posted by: Bonnie - Berkeley , CA
“Ken will always be in my mind one of the most outstanding clinicians and clinical teachers that I have ever known. The field of rheumatology was...Read More »
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24 of 66 | Posted by: Sandra Tong - Los Altos, CA
“I was sadden to read of the passing of Dr. Fye. I used to work at the VA and helped him with his computer woes, played softball with him each spring,...Read More »
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25 of 66 | Posted by: Shigenari "Steve" Hayashi - CA
“Liebe Marylin,
morgen wirst du gemeinsam mit deiner Familie und deinen Freunden Abschied nehmen von Kenneth.
Unsere Gedanken sind bei dir. Wir...Read More »
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26 of 66 | Posted by: Marianne und Dieter - Berlin, CA
“Sorry for your loss. I was never fortunate enough to meet him, but I have heard many great things about him and he left quite a legacy. My heart goes...Read More »
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27 of 66 | Posted by: Nina Pittenger
“My husband, William Callas
and I, Lois will greatly and sadly miss Dr. Fye, whom we faithfully followed as patients from his Greenbrae office from...Read More »
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28 of 66 | Posted by: William and Lois Callas
“Every day I have, I owe to Dr, Fye. I spent most of my teen years and early adulthood in and out of hospitals. That was until, an old friend of Dr...Read More »
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29 of 66 | Posted by: Sally Matsuishi - San Anselmo, CA
“I first met Ken in 1978, 32 years ago, when I attended the Northern California Rheumatism Association meeting of Bay Area rheumatologists. We used to...Read More »
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30 of 66 | Posted by: Lester Miller, MD - Santa Cruz, CA
“My English isn't the best but I will give my best.
I have read all memories. I only can say that I'm proud that such a lovable one belongs to people...Read More »
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31 of 66 | Posted by: Manuela Zoels
“Ken was clearly a remarkable physician and human being and an inspiration to many. To commemorate his time on the Cal tennis team, a seat in the...Read More »
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32 of 66 | Posted by: Peter Wright - Berkeley, CA
“Dear Marilyn, the news of Ken's death came as a stunning shock to all who knew him. As one of his oldest patients, I felt a particular sense of...Read More »
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33 of 66 | Posted by: Warren Faus - Belvedere, CA
“Ken and I have worked together at UCSF for the past 11 years. With his training and guidance, my skills in Rheumatology as a Nurse Practitioner have...Read More »
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34 of 66 | Posted by: Darlene Lee Young - San Francisco, CA
“It has been well over a month since Ken left us. I have been struggling with putting into words how I felt about Ken, since he passed. I can't put...Read More »
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35 of 66 | Posted by: Merri Schramel - Taylorsville, CA
“We are so thankful to have known Ken. He and Marilyn visit our Genesee Store when they are here in Plumas County. One very memorable time was when I,...Read More »
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36 of 66 | Posted by: Robert and Carol Meacher - CA
“Dearest Marilyn and family,
I am so very saddended to hear of Ken's passing and your loss. How honored and proud you must be to have been his wife...Read More »
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37 of 66 | Posted by: Vickie Selman - san rafael, CA
“A funny memory...
I will always remember Dr. Fye's devotion to his patients and how much his patients loved him. It's almost like they were family,...Read More »
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38 of 66 | Posted by: Ruby Harrison - UCSF Staff
“Dr. Fye was my doctor for 20 years . Though he was brilliant and a walking database of pharmacology, research and all things autoimmune, what set him...Read More »
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39 of 66 | Posted by: colleen Rogers - tiburon, CA
“Dr Fye was truly one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever met.He was a very genuine and wonderful person and a fabulous doctor and healer....Read More »
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40 of 66 | Posted by: Alice Downing - Forestville, CA
“Ken Fye was an active member of the Board of Directors for the Northern California Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. He was also an esteemed...Read More »
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41 of 66 | Posted by: Patricia J. (PJ) Handeland, President, Arthritis Foundation, Nor - CA
“We were discussing a particular patient that Ken cared for for many years...which lead to this remembrance
I remember this young lady very, very...Read More »
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42 of 66 | Posted by: John Zecherle, MD - CA
“To Dr. Fye's Family--My heart was saddened this morning when I read about Dr. Fye's passing. I met him when I was a Merck Representative at UCSF 13...Read More »
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43 of 66 | Posted by: Claire Sperow Gagas - friend
“I became Dr. Fye's patient in 1985, having spent the previous year trying to get diagnosed for the mysterious inflamed joints that came on very...Read More »
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44 of 66 | Posted by: Tami Barker-Young - San Jose, CA
“Ken was first my doctor, then became my tennis partner, confidante, counselor, and best friend. I will so miss our tennis, golf and scrabble games,...Read More »
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45 of 66 | Posted by: David Kane - Petaluma,, CA
“Ken was a terrific rheumatologist and teacher and a better friend and person. He was a wonderful role model for all who were lucky enough to train...Read More »
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46 of 66 | Posted by: James O'Dell - omaha, NE
“I worked with Dr. Fye over the course of 5 years at the Marin General Hospital emergency department. He was often the on-call internal medicine...Read More »
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47 of 66 | Posted by: Meridtihe Mendelsohn - CA
“Dr. Fye is a hero to my family. My Father struggled with Rheumatoid Arthritis for years, and Dr. Fye was a true general in the battle to fight this...Read More »
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48 of 66 | Posted by: Maura Harrington - Novato, CA
“Marilyn~
I'm in Augusta, GA now, but happened to look at the IJ today. I'm am so very sorry for your loss. You know how important both of you were to...Read More »
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49 of 66 | Posted by: Jennifer Wormsley - Augusta, GA
“Ken was a great man full of love and concern for all-he loved his family more that anything----to me he was a mentor-a perfect doctor who gave his...Read More »
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50 of 66 | Posted by: Nancy Doyle - santa rosa, CA
“I first met Dr. Fye when I was 12 and he became my full time doctor and friend when I was 21 and very sick. I knew him for over 30 years. From his...Read More »
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51 of 66 | Posted by: Michael Herzog - Corte Madera, CA
“Dear Marilyn
I was just working in my shop this morning when a problem came up that I knew that Ken could solve for me. I was almost to the phone...Read More »
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52 of 66 | Posted by: Wally Epstein - Menlo Parkgifft, CA
“For the last couple weeks I have been trying very hard to remember the first time I met Ken and Marilyn. Unfortunately, I cannot because I was just a...Read More »
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53 of 66 | Posted by: Derek and Kristi Schramel - CA
“We all will miss this vibrant enthusiastic man, who was the epitome of a doctor--a teacher, who even through his dying taught us how to live.
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54 of 66 | Posted by: Irene M Piekarski - Seattle, WA
“Dear Marilyn, Marc, Kent, Kathy, Cece.
When the time comes, it is a surprise.
We wish you much stength and warmth from
John und Michaela
My Parents...Read More »
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55 of 66 | Posted by: John Reinhardt - Bremerhaven, NY
“For the loss of our dear Ken, please accept my sincere condolences. Ken is always to be remembered as a devoted sensitive and paradigmatic medical...Read More »
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56 of 66 | Posted by: Haralampos M Moutsopoulos MD, FACP, FRCP
“I first met Ken Fye in late 1997 when I went to UCSF because my rheumatoid arthritis was getting very serious and had compromised my enjoyment of...Read More »
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57 of 66 | Posted by: John Hinman - San Rafael, CA
“Ken and I have been colleagues and friends for over 30 years. In addition to our in-depth discussions of patients, we enjoyed sharing our many mutual...Read More »
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58 of 66 | Posted by: Ken Sack - Colleague
“As colleague, I had the privilege of working with Dr. Fye on the alumni magazine at UCSF, when he was the editor. He gave the publication a great...Read More »
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59 of 66 | Posted by: Patrick Delahunt - Oakland , CA
“Dr. Fye was my hero on this campus of brilliant people. After hearing Surgeon General Richard Carmona speak to former classmates and faculty at the...Read More »
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60 of 66 | Posted by: Mary Conn-Fitch - San Francisco, CA
“We send sincere sympathy to Marilyn, all of Ken's family and wide circle of friends and admirers. He was a remarkable man with huge capacity for...Read More »
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61 of 66 | Posted by: Deborah and John Greenspan - UCSF, CA
“I am so sorry I didnt get to reconnect to this awesome family till recently and didnt get to see him before his passing! I was very lucky to have...Read More »
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62 of 66 | Posted by: Heather Morrill
“I can't think of anyone who will stay with me longer throughout my career as a rheumatologist than Dr Ken Fye. He has always been one of everyone's...Read More »
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63 of 66 | Posted by: Jennifer Burkham - Woodside, CA
“Ken was one of those very special people that I was fortunate enough to have in my life. As much as I will miss him, he brought joy and love that...Read More »
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64 of 66 | Posted by: Terry Carnes - CA
“Words cannot express my deepest sorrow in this difficult time of sadness of the loss of Dr. Fye. He was truly a wonderful, brilliant, caring doctor...Read More »
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65 of 66 | Posted by: Cindy M. Hume - Marysville, CA
“We are so sad to learn of Dr. Fye's passing. He was truly one of a kind, and we will miss him so much. Dr. Fye was one bright spot in Adrianne's long...Read More »
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66 of 66 | Posted by: Dusti & Adrianne Rhodes - CA
Kenneth H. Fye, MD, a life-time resident of the Bay Area, a Professor of Medicine at UCSF, and honored as a Master Clinician by the American College of Rheumatology, died at age 67 on Sunday, March 28, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He achieved his goal of squeezing every last bit of life and joy out of the time his cancer gave him and died peacefully in the comfort of his own bed surrounded by loving and beloved family. He is survived by his loving wife Marilyn of Tiburon, CA, by daughters Katherine Sears of Fall City, WA and Cecelia Youngheim of Royal Oak, MI, by sons Marc and Kent Daniels of Tiburon and El Cerrito, CA, by four grandchildren, Kirtis, Taryn, Cordelia and Eli, and by his sister, Theresa Jones and her children Dena Trujillo and Quinton Jones of San Jose, CA.
A native of Fremont, Dr. Fye attended U.C. Berkeley, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and played on the varsity tennis team. He earned his M.D. at UCSF, completed internship at Harbor Hospital-UCLA, and returned to UCSF to complete residency in internal medicine and fellowship in rheumatology. Early in his career, Dr. Fye left his University post to pursue private practice in Marin County for 20 years before being recruited back to UCSF. According to Dr. Bill Seaman, a close colleague of Dr. Fye’s at UCSF, “It is a little unusual for physicians to be recruited back to an academic center after so long in private practice, but Ken did not so much leave the University as take it with him into private practice. He always served on our volunteer clinical faculty, and he continued to write scientific reports of his observations of patients. Ken was such a talented and enthusiastic clinical teacher that we always wanted him back and were happy when he finally rejoined us.”
On his return, Dr. Fye worked as a Rheumatology Consultant at the UCSF and San Francisco Veteran's Administration Medical Centers. As reported by Dr. Art Weiss, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology: “ What made Ken so effective as a teacher of medicine were his infectious enthusiasm, his breadth of knowledge, his ability to use evidence-based research to support his arguments, and his invariable focus on the needs of the individual patient. He was one of the first recipients of the Ira Goldstein Teaching Award, bestowed by our rheumatology fellows.”
Dr. Fye conducted clinical research on osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthropathies and lupus erythematosus, publishing over 60 scientific papers. Dr. David Wofsy, a co-investigator in many of Dr. Fye’s research studies, commented, “This output is remarkable for a physician who spent so much of his career in private practice and even when here, spent so much of his time as a clinician educator. He was even elected in the first group of seven ‘Master Clinicians’ named by our Department of Medicine, yet he found the time and energy to do first-rate clinical research.”
In additional service to UCSF, Dr. Fye directed the volunteer clinical faculty and chaired the Medical School’s Alumni Association. Among the many honors accorded by the University was his election as Alumnus of the Year in 1996. Among the honors accorded him by his patients was the endowment of the Kenneth H. Fye Distinguished Chair in Rheumatology in 2007.
Beyond the University, Dr. Fye was an active participant in local and national activities of the Arthritis Foundation, and was a fellow of the American College of Rheumatology, which elected him a Master of the College in 2008.
Another UCSF colleague of Dr. Fye’s, Dr. Homer Boushey, also classmate in medical school, said of him, “Among Ken’s most distinguishing characteristics was his capacity for caring. This capacity was well known within the walls of UCSF’s hospitals and clinic but extended well beyond them. Just as examples, Ken sat long hours at the side of one friend with massive hemorrhage, stood by others when their daughter was pulled near death from a snow cave, and climbed down a precipice to rescue an unconscious stranger who had driven off a mountain road. Ken cared about teaching, especially at the bedside, where he was a model, mentor, and font of knowledge, but also through his devotion to the institution that makes the teaching of medicine possible.”
Ken similarly applied the same energy, curiosity and enthusiasm to every aspect of his life. He was interested and curious about everything and everyone. He was a great athlete, an active and successful competitor in league play in the Northern California Tennis Association during his decades of active membership at the Marin Tennis Club. He was an award winning hobby winemaker—an activity he shared initially with colleagues and in later years with sons Marc and Kent—his wines winning a variety of medals at county faire competitions. A medical school classmate of Dr. Fye’s, Dr. Edgar Clark of Portland, Oregon, noted that his academic curriculum vitae “does not do justice to Ken Fye the poet, essayist, winemaker, woodworker, fisherman, and open-armed friend.”
He and his wife Marilyn shared a warm, loving and joyous 25 years of marriage. They travelled widely making life-long friends in China, Germany and Ireland. When they weren’t traveling they shared quiet, private days at home reading in front of the fire.
He and Marilyn built a log home in Taylorsville in the Feather River country of California. In like manner, Ken invested himself fully in his mountain community by actively protecting ranch lands from over-development through his involvement in the Plumas County Feather River Land Trust. His many friends in Taylorsville knew Ken equally as a physician and outdoorsman, but mostly as a tried and true friend. An accomplished woodworker, Ken built much of the furniture for their cabin and Marin home. He spent many recent hours in his woodshop making mementos for friends and family leaving a physical legacy in addition to his personal legacy.
He was a proud father to his daughters Katherine and Cecelia, a great companion to his
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