I learned this week that our group's last official treasurer and long-time solar-cooking guru, Ken Shelly, died last month on Nov 24.
Besides AEA board member status, Ken was an avid participant, supporter and volunteer in AEA in its hey-days. And he was a hands-on guy when it came to improving energy efficiency and renewable energy in his own home in Wyoming Ohio. He insulated old walls which were uninsulated. He replaced inefficient windows and improved the passive solar performance of his home.
He participated in a unique opportunity when several AEAers traveled to English Indiana where Richard Komp taught about and helped attendees build their own solar water heating collectors. Ken brought his collectors home and installed them on his roof.
Most of AEA's many solar cooking events were organized by Ken. Ken built or helped build many of the cookers now owned by AEAers. He also sold cookers for low-cost and donated all profits back to AEA. When AEA was at local parks having solar cook-outs, Ken was always at the forefront.
Ken was a diverse guy. He also had a masters degree in chemistry. He also was a Habitat For Humanity volunteer. He planted over 1000 trees on his Indiana farm. He was an excellent woodworker, creating many pieces of furniture in his home's woodworking shop. Ken was a consistent recycler and composter his entire life. I still have several slides in a few of my eco-presentations about how to begin and improve residential recycling and composting programs --- they are all from Ken's own home!
In recent years, Ken had been living in a retirement village in Warren County, Ohio. Ken's wife had passed several years ago. I had visited Ken only a couple time in recent years, but had communicated with him every year around the Christmas holidays, usually by letter or phone call. This year, the response I received was a letter from his daughter informing me of his death. Ken was 90. We will all miss him.
John Robbins Co-chair, AEA1 OKI Tri-state
