Son's death brings support from many quarters

My family are relative newcomers to the Gardnerville area having moved here in early 2002. We absolutely love the pristine beauty of the area, the kindness of the community and the pace of life in general. We even started a business here that provides employment training for individuals with developmental, mental and physical challenges.

Then our world turned upside down on July 7 with the unexpected passing of our much loved, happy, forever smiling 42-year-old developmentally challenged son Dean. Dean happened to work at Sharkey's Casino at the time of his passing. All of a sudden our world was in chaos.

And then the most amazing thing happened. The community and Sharkey's management stepped in to provide loving words of support, and to plan a first-class memorial in our son's honor. Between the Sharkeys restaurant "regulars," the employees and management they not only arranged a celebration of Dean's life, but they served up a beautiful buffet, and gathering where more than 60 guests and our family were made to feel not only welcome, but embraced in our sadness.

Dean worked at Sharkey's for the last six years, loved going to work each day and never left our home without a smile on his face. All who knew him at work knew that no matter how gray the day may be, their day would be brightened by Deano's ever smiling grin, happily telling them about either his last paycheck, his upcoming trip to see the new babies in Santa Cruz, or his list of winnings from the penny slots.

Sharkey's was Dean's happy place in life, because there he was able to function without our ever present supervision, he was accepted as a man and a hard worker, and he absolutely never felt one ounce of prejudice from anyone while working. He was a man with limited understanding of some basic concepts, and limited speech, but at Sharkey's, he was treated like "just one of the guys."

Developmentally challenged workers many times face harsh realities and criticisms and sometimes a general lack of support and understanding in the workplace. We are so proud of the worker our son was able to be in this naturally supported work environment. Of course, we, his family, always knew his loving smile, his sense of humor and his ability to see and find joy in the simplest of things. To see those wonderful traits acknowledged and enjoyed by the customers, staff at Sharkeys without question truly made a huge difference in the quality of Dean's life this past six years.

We know now that it was more than the beauty of this area, that it was really the folks who live here and take time to enjoy life, and to care about each other- that's what drew us here. Thank you for acknowledging Dean's smiles and joys in his daily work! He led a blessed life here and we are forever grateful to the Sharkey's crew for all the joy they brought to Dean's short life! And by the way, that lit up Sharkey's marquee would have made his day - seeing his name in lights.

Thanks also to the satellite office of the Rural Regional Center here in Gardnerville and to Alycia and Terri, case managers in that office for their daily support in helping us cope, plan a memorial and just take care of the legal responsibilities related to Dean's passing. We also thank the local fire department for their many visits to our home to assist Deano over the past 1 1/2 years, and to the staff at Smiths Food & Drug Store and also Barton Hospice Thrift Stores for their engaging rapport with Deano over the years. He loved to shop. We are so grateful to this community for making a huge difference in the overall quality of our special son's life.

Sandy Haugen Keck and Tom Keck are Gardnerville residents.