Kenneth Erwin

A year ago, on August 18, we lost my best friend and husband, Kenneth Raymond Erwin. Ken grew up in Long Beach. He was very close to his cousin, Wayne Padgett, who lived in S F. The two visited very often. Ken was the son of the late Lorna Irene Erwin Hardy and the stepson of the late Stan Hardy. Ken’s father, Kenneth Edison Erwin, was killed in 1942 during WWII.

Ken received awards at Progress High and at Long Beach State, where he earned a B.S. in Business Admin in 1960. He served 2 years on active Army duty, mostly in Kodiak AK. He joined the Social Security Admin as an interviewer in Inglewood, CA, and rose to become a Commissioner’s Citation awardee as an outstanding specialist in medical review in the Regional Office in San Francisco. He made many friends there.

In mid-1967 friend introduced Ken and me. We discovered our common interests in music, operas, plays, musicals, and traveling! We spent 49 years together. Ken was full of energy and inquisitiveness. He was always enthusiastic.

His parents were always supportive of our relationship. They were spectacular people. In 1975, Ken’s mother, said to me, “Ken loves you, Rick Kugler”. What a wonderful shock to be acknowledged by his mother! This was at a time when parents were disowning their gay children. We became Domestic Partners in 2004 and married in 2013.

The happy times slowed down abruptly in 2010. He endured a series of operations over the next 5 years. He was a wonderful patient. He never complained to me, despite constant pain and other health problems. I was happy to be his caregiver for those six years. I appreciated him, and loved him immensely. I couldn’t ask for a better spouse.

Ken passed away unexpectedly on August 18, 2016 at St. Mary’s Hospital of pneumonia. A Celebration of Ken’s Life was held on September 26, 2016 at The Church of the Incarnation in the Sunset District in San Francisco.