May father died on December 7th, and I just published his obituary on Forbes: http://onforb.es/BillKonrad. As a life-long investor and IT CEO, I think it would have pleased him to have it published there.
Interviewing his friends and family in the process of writing it was a great help in coming to terms with losing him, as was this shorter poem I read at his memorial ceremony:
Dad could be a little prickly and hard to know at times,
just like the cacti you see around you here,
at his favorite spot,
overlooking the Pacific ocean.
I believe he loved them because he saw a parallel between them and himself.
That parallel was not the unexpected beauty of their blooms,
a trait he never would have admitted to in himself…
But I think that was just his needles talking.
Instead, I think he valued their ability to thrive in adverse conditions.
Above all, he loved to watch them grow,
To see what unique forms they would take on.
Just recently he told me that, when he was young, he was somewhat sickly.
Against the odds, he did thrive.
Dad was a risk-taker, but not a gambler.
He did everything he could to stack the odds in his favor.
With his health, he exercised religiously, and kept careful track of everything he could,
from his pulse rate to the most recent medical research.
In the stock market, he would place big bets on individual companies,
but only when he knew everything he could about those companies.
He made his first million before he was thirty because he saw the emergence of of a new electronics industry long before most other investors.
His diligence continued to pay off even when he was 70,
When he won his age division in the Big Sur marathon.
Dad was a great role model.
He set goals for himself, and he succeeded at them.
One of his goals and successes was to be a great father.
I love you, Dad.
