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Gene (Shorty) Kalkwarf, Jane's older brother & my brother-in-law passed away a few days ago after a sudden and unexpected illness. He passed in a hospital near his winter home in Florida. His remains will be shipped back to Illinois for the burial. What started as an abscessed tooth turned into an infection his body couldn't overcome. He was a vibrant 69 and we are all stunned. He leaves behind a wonderful wife, 3 children and 5 grandchildren.
Shorty was a classic. He had a fun loving and teasing sense of humor that made him likable to all who knew him. He was a very popular stock car racer and his name is known throughout our area. He was also a part time sign painter and he introduced me to 1 Shot and quills when I was just starting out. He loved his family to pieces. He loved to play golf. He made an annual pigrimage to Daytona to watch the races each spring and he was a huge race fan and also a Cub and Bear fan. He was most proud of a grandson who was in the Air Force, because Shorty was a big patriot.
Shorty was also like a part time employee as he helped paint signs for us and also brought a lot of his work to us. He was always in our shop with a project. We designed a lot of signs for him and made graphics for him to apply. He loved cars and has a basement full of Dale Earnhardt memoralbila. He was quite a mechanic and was ambidextrous and could paint signs with both hands. He hummed while he painted -- he liked it so much. He had a unique style of hand lettering and was "old school" about it. I imagine there will be a scramble to perserve some of his work. I know we'll be after some.
Shorty and his 2 sisters, Jane and Joanne grew up on a farm and he spent most of his life working in ag-related businesses in addition to painting signs. His true love was painting signs though and he was always a big fan of our business and helped promote us in his area.
I've got to tell you this one's going to take a while to get over. We will eventually, I know, but right now it's tough especially with the holidays and all. Jane wears her heart on her sleeve and we'll have to smother her extra hard with love to help her cope. Our prayers go out, big time, to Shorty's immediate family who did get to fly down to Florida to be with him in his final days.
I know when the good Lord needs a sign painter, Shorty will respond with all the enthusiasm he always had.
-------------------- Bill Diaz Diaz Sign Art Pontiac IL www.diazsignart.com Posts: 2107 | From: Pontiac, IL | Registered: Dec 2001
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Sounds to have been a slick sort of guy! Prayers and condolences from here to you all- love- Cat
-------------------- Catharine C. Kennedy CCK Graphics 1511 Route 28 Chatham Center, NY 12184 cck1620@taconic.net "Look at me, Look at me, Look at me now! I't's fun to have fun, But you have to know how!" Posts: 2173 | From: downtown Chatham Center, NY | Registered: Feb 2004
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That's sad to hear. My condolences go out to you.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3820 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
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Bill, my condolences go out to you and Jane. Both of you & Shorty's family will be in my thoughts and prayers. Judy
-------------------- Judy Pate Signs By Judy Albany, Georgia USA 229-435-6824
Live simply...Love generously...Care deeply...Speak kindly...Leave the rest to God. Posts: 2621 | From: Albany,GA,USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3488 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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Bill sorry to hear off your loss Please accept our condolence and give Jane a hug for us and let her know you all will be in our thoughts and prayers.
-------------------- Barb Shortreed 144 Hill St. E. Fergus, Ontario Posts: 2377 | From: Fergus, Ont. | Registered: Sep 2000
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Some of you who have been to our mini meets might remember my brother. Shorty was 13 years older than me and I really don't remember us living at home together much, other than a few Christmas memories so that makes it even harder. We lived close enough that our families were together alot though and I loved my brother. He just seemed too young to go out so quickly. He was a big help when Bill was first getting started in the sign business and over the years, really got to enjoy hanging out at our shop and visiting with Bill about sign stuff. Here is a picture of him talking to "Conman" (Steve Connor) while Steve was painting at one of our meets in 2005. We will miss him stopping by to tease us and just hang out for a bit!
Thank you all for your prayers and just keep us in your thoughts!
-------------------- Jane Diaz Diaz Sign Art 628 W. Lincoln Ave. Pontiac, Il. 61764 815-844-7024 www.diazsignart.com Posts: 4102 | From: Pontiac, IL USA | Registered: Feb 1999
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-------------------- Jimmy Chatham Chatham Signs 468 stark st Commerce, Ga 30529 Posts: 1766 | From: Commerce, GA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Please accept my condolences as well. Shorty sounds like a cool guy, and his passing is tragic. I have three brothers and couldn't imagine life without them. Love....Jill
Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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Jane and Bill, To lose someone so special is sad, especially when they are your own family. May you have hope and peace in your hearts and live with the wonderful memories; and I'll be thinking of you as you'll be in my prayers.
-------------------- Deb Fowler
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Walt Disney (1901-1966) Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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Jane and Bill, We are so sorry and shocked to hear about Shorty. It is so sad, yet so cool that you guys have such great memories of him ! If he is related to you guys , he must be GREAT! You are in our thoughts and prayers.... Tom, Kat
-------------------- Tom & Kathy Durham House Springs, MO Posts: 654 | From: House Springs, MO | Registered: Apr 1999
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"Some are born to move the world, to live their fantasies. But most of us just dream about the things we'd like to be." - Rush Posts: 1192 | From: Washington, NJ | Registered: Feb 1999
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Kay and I are deeply saddened by your loss. I remember Shorty from your meets. He always seemed like a heck of a guy. You are in our thoughts and prayers. It is always a bad time of year for anything traumatic to happen. We are truly sorry.
-------------------- Dave Utter D-utterguy on chat Sign Designs Beardstown, Il. signdesigns@casscomm.com Posts: 777 | From: beardstown, illinois, usa | Registered: Mar 1999
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-------------------- aka:Cisco the "Traveling Millennium Sign Artist" http://www.franciscovargas.com Fresno, CA 93703 559 252-0935 "to live life, is to love life, a sign of no life, is a sign of no love"...Cisco 12'98 Posts: 3576 | From: Fresno, Ca, the great USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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Sincerest condolences from the St.Marie Family, Bill.
Pierre
-------------------- Pierre St.Marie Stmariegraphics Kalispell,Mt www.stmariegraphics.com ------------------ Plan on knowing everything before I die and time's running out! Posts: 4223 | From: Kalispell,Mt 59903 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Thanks for telling us of Shorty. He sounds like a great guy! I'm sure he will be missed greatly.
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8739 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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My condolences. It sounds like you have lots of great memories to draw on to help you through this.
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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