At Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, the late Kenneth Crowe was honored by county officials for his service and good-natured ability to bring a smile to anyone’s face that he came in contact with.

Crowe worked for the road department for nearly 17 years. The county road department presented a plaque and flag to his family this week and many in attendance shared stories of Crowe’s joyful spirit.

He touched many lives. As a sign of respect for their beloved coworker, the flag was flown at half-staff at the road department following Crowe’s sudden and untimely death this past spring.

County Engineer Dan Dahlke, who started with the road department just before Crowe did, said, “Every time I think about Kenneth, I always have a smile on my face. I think about him a lot. He was always a happy person and grounded in his faith. Anybody who passes away and everybody thinks about them like that, well, they’ve accomplished a lot in their life.”

Commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting shared their memories of Crowe.

“You just liked Kenneth,” Commissioner Jeff Smith said. “He always thought about everybody else. That’s the main thing that has stuck in my mind. You never saw him unhappy. He was always smiling. I really enjoyed being around him and he was a good friend of mine.”

Commissioner Paul Manning, who has known the Crowes for a very long time and saw many people in Kenneth Crowe’s family grow up, get married and raise families of their own said, “It’s a great day that we can honor him. We realize that he is gone, but we remember him and his memory will live for a long time with all of us.”

Commissioner Jimmy Roberts said that whenever he saw Crowe, he knew that portion of his day would be lighter, because of the character the man showed, “He was a fun fellow to be around. We would carry on a good bit. He did fine work for the county.”

Commission Chairman Stan Batemon added, “He was a very pleasant person to be around… I remember when he worked for Dale Richey and he was always pulling a stunt… Back when I was a game warden he would always rib me and I appreciated that.”