Ken Gantz, Killed In Skyway Shooting, Remembered As 'Sweetheart'

SKYWAY, WA - Whether it was his motorcycle buddies, his grandchildren, or the people he worked with, Kenneth Gantz, was well loved. Gantz, 59, died last Friday after he was shot and killed inside the Skyway Park Bowl bowling alley. Gantz loved riding motorcycles, worked for almost 40 years as an iron worker, and decided to make Seattle his permanent home after falling in love with his wife, Hazel.

Gantz, originally from Houston, Texas, moved to the Seattle area in the early 2000s to take care of a sick aunt living in Tacoma, Hazel Gantz said. The couple met in 2003 at a jazz night at the Great American Casino in Tukwila. Kenneth Gantz and his friend walked in, asked to sit at Hazel's table - the rest is history.

The couple married in 2007 in Las Vegas and have lived together in Skyway since. Hazel Gantz, who is originally from Eastern Washington, said her husband was extremely outgoing. Since his death, complete strangers have been stopping by her house with flowers and gifts.

"He always had the garage open," she said. Whenever anyone needed anything fixed, or needed to know how to fix something, Gantz was the go-to person in the neighborhood.

"He could do anything - fix cars, motorcycles, anything broken," she said.

No wonder: Gantz has been an iron worker since 1979. He completed his apprenticeship in Houston and joined the Seattle-area Iron Workers Local 86 in 2006, according to the union. He has worked on projects ranging from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to the Cherry Point Refinery.

"He's just a sweetheart," remembers Kandi Riddiough, the office manager at the Iron Workers Local 86 hall in Tukwila. Riddiough remembers that Gantz would always make a point to stop and talk to her. "He always made sure he got my attention when he came in."

His fix-it skills earned him the handle "Handyman" when he was a member of the Seattle Magic Wheels, a local motorcycle club known for its charity rides. Gantz was well known in the greater Seattle motorcycle community, Hazel Gantz said. Motorcycle riders from around the region held a fundraiser for him last Friday night just hours after his death. They also set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help Gantz' family pay for his funeral.

Gantz owned two bikes: a 2010 Victory Cross Country, which he customized and painted purple. That was his around-the-town bike. But last year, he bought a Harley-Davidson, and that was his traveling bike. He had just returned from a seven-day trip to Kansas City at the beginning of August.

Sadly, it was Gantz' one-of-a-kind purple Victory that brought the news of his death. Last Thursday night, he left home telling Hazel he was going out for a few drinks. He usually went to the Beachcomber, a neighborhood bar in Skyway that's popular among members of the local VFW. Hazel Gantz doesn't know how he ended up at the bowling alley.

She woke up last Friday around 4 a.m. and noticed her husband was not home. She turned on KING 5 and saw the early-morning news about the shooting in Skyway. Then, she saw Kenneth Gantz' purple Victory on the TV parked there in front of the bowling alley, cordoned off behind police tape.

Kenneth Gantz had no enemies, Hazel Gantz said, and so it doesn't make sense why things would end up this way.

The King County Sheriff's Office is still investigating Gantz' death. Another man, Dennis Robinson, 24, was also shot and killed on Friday. Police have not said whether the killings stemmed from a dispute between Gantz and Robinson, or if other parties were involved. The sheriff's office has identified a third person of interest, but have not said that person is a suspect.

Gantz leaves behind a son, plus two women he helped raise who are, for all purposes, his daughters. There's also about nine grandchildren who will be missing him. And, of course, Hazel.

"Everything he did made me smile; every single day before work we would kiss; we would kiss when we got home," she said on Tuesday, which would've been Kenneth's 60th birthday. "We always said 'I love you,' every single day."

"Our marriage was sacred, and he would absolutely never do anything to endanger that."

According to MB Daniel Mortuary Service, a visitation for Gantz will be held Saturday followed by a funeral in SeaTac.

Image via MB Daniel Mortuary Service