I didn’t know him only from his posts but you could tell he had deep knowledge and was just very cool & always friendly never harsh on anyone

Robin, I posted your reply on Klov so those members could hear too. If you are in contact with Ken's sister, could you pass along a link to all the Klov member's condolences as well.

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/ken-layton-has-passed-away.497057/

The power of Pinside. What a special place, thanks for this Robin!!

Thanks. I sent the KLOV link to Ken's sister.

ken contacted me 2 or 3 different times on here to assist with a problem. a true treasure to the hobby, nothing but positive things to say about ken. Rip buddy.

I had a pleasant, hour-long conversation with Ken's sister last night. She's planning a "happy memories" celebration of Ken's life in the Spring. Ken has relatives in wintry mountain states who prefer to travel in warmer weather.

It's funny - Ken was enough of a multi-faceted guy that his sister and I surprised each other with "Ken stories" the other hadn't heard. For example: Ken really loved Twinkies!

His tribute get-together should be entertaining for those of us in the Northwest who can attend. She's planning on bringing some of Ken's prized trinkets along to spark conversation.

I just found out about Ken’s passing. So sad, he had helped me so much with pins, vids, jukeboxes and even my Scopitone. It was always a pleasure to see his familiar face (of his avatar. After all these years we never connected in person.) I can’t even count the number of different forums we would connect on. He was EVERYWHERE. Always helpful, taking the time to clearly explain and re-explain, if necessary. Never losing his patience or being rude. I’m sad covid has taken another great man. But I am glad his posts and his knowledge (correction-the *tip* of his vast iceberg of knowledge) live on in these forum pages and in the minds of all of those he educated throughout the years.

I inherited a box of Lisy boards that Ken had been working on. It has 5 each of the Bally, Gottlieb System 80, and System 1 boards.

Ken was not able to get them up and running.

So far I have 3 of the 5 Bally boards sorted. I am working on finding Gottlieb machines to test those boards in.

I am sort of thinking that I will give them away to people in the community. It will be sort of like Ken's last gift to the hobby.

I've had great success with the Lisy1 and Lisy80 boards. If you need any help let me know.

If you happen to live in the N/W and want to attend Ken's celebration of life, it's going to occur in a couple of weeks:

"We will have a celebration of Ken's life on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 1pm. It will be held at the Lacey Community Center at 6729 Pacific Ave SE, Lacey Wa 98503. Dress casually, face masks preferred."

There have been some unofficial observances already:

Twinkies (resized).jpg

Just read of Kens passing, he helped me out a couple of times and I always valued his knowledge. I never met him in person but he seemed like a good dude for sure.

Well, yesterday (4/24) was Ken's funeral/celebration of life. It was well attended, by 3 groups of people - several generations of family, a handful of pinball lovers and a big contingent of movie theatre owners and co-workers! It turns out Ken got his start in theatres before he got into pinball and arcade games.

The beginning of it all was a grade school behind-the-scenes tour of a local theatre, which inspired him to buy a copy of "The Boy Electrician". That led to student A/V responsibility, projection equipment maintenance work, etc.. By the time Ken was about 15, he had keys to all the theatres in town and was taking care of their equipment too.

He went on to be projectionist at several drive-in and indoor theatres, and the guys who showed up from those years told the funniest stories. They went past LOL to more like "Cough Something Up". Rather than rat Ken out here on the WWW, I'll just tell one anecdote. He had several big projectors in his apartment at all times, and set one up in his kitchen to project movies onto the back wall of the grocery store across the way.

He did pick up his first pinball machine about when he got out of high school, and his sister was still amazed that Ken made her and her brother put quarters in to play!

Here are two photos; one of a young Ken in the theatre biz, and one of his remains in the black urn. RIP, Ken, and thanks for all the help!

IMG_2541 (resized).JPG

IMG_2544 (resized).JPG

still kinda hard to believe he's gone. i met him in person only once, before i knew of the legend of Ken Layton. i was buying some boards from an old-school operator in Olympia via a Craigslist ad, and while i'm thumbing through a big box of marquees and other random stuff, in walks this guy with a beautifully repainted Midway coin door that he's restored. the op and i spend a few minutes oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the great workmanship, and three of us chat for a bit. eventually i'm done making my choices and i leave (OMG, the days of $10 working R-Type and Galaga 88 boards). a little while later i'm on KLOV or some other forum and i keep seeing this local tech responding to questions and i suddenly realize, "Hey! That's the guy I met over at Steve's!"

over the years we chatted back and forth a bit, mostly in the last couple in relation to his work at the Olympia Pinball Museum, but i never again did speak to him in person. such an awesome and giving person. he's certainly missed, but much of his knowledge lives on, between the forums and those of he blessed with it.

That's a cool story. He seems to have floated in and out of a lot of our lives without seeming legendary at the time.

I always smile when I come across a thread that Ken posted in. His legacy of helping others will live on forever

Wow, just wow. I stumbled across another thread that had mentioned this of Ken, and searched the forums. This hits hard, as many that knew Ken, or of him, also knew he was genuine and extremely helpful to all others.

My first interactions with him was over at KLOV, before getting involved with pinball. He had so much to share with people, not only in specific information, but just how he handled and presented himself to everyone. He was a good soul, and will be sadly missed. Thank you Ken Layton, for all of the times you have helped myself and others in this hobby. Be at peace my friend

I never met Ken in person but chatted with him several times on the phone over the years when I had problems. He was always a great source and there with good advice. RIP Ken!

Q: I went to the Spokanne Pinball Museum and spoke to the owner, and Ken was doing their tech work.

I helped a little bit, but I'm in Alaska - anyone near Spokanne that wants to step up to keep them maintained?