A loss in Beloit

Rick Bastian's best memories of Ken Hendricks were from the final hours of the man's life.

Hendricks and his wife, Diane, attended the Blackhawk Bank director and senior management holiday party Thursday night, before the fatal fall that would end Hendricks' life when the couple returned to their home shortly after 10 p.m.

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Hendricks, 66, founder of ABC Supply Co., died early Friday after suffering a massive head injury as a result of a fall at a construction site at his home Thursday evening. He died in surgery Friday morning, according to a statement from ABC Supply.

The Hendricks couple had just returned from the party, and Ken Hendricks went to check the progress of a second-floor construction project in the garage when he fell from the second floor to the concrete garage floor, according to the accident report filed by the Rock County Sheriff's Department.

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Bastian also made reference to Hendricks being ranked No. 91 on this year's Forbes 400 list of the nation's wealthiest people. His net worth was listed as $3.5 billion.

“There were people higher than him on the Forbes list who have bodyguards and limousines,” he explained. “But Ken went right ahead and drove his own Jeep Cherokee.”

It's a loss, Bastian said, for the entire the community and a devastating loss to the family that adored him.

Those who were touched by Hendricks continued to pour out condolences Friday afternoon upon learning of the untimely death of Beloit's No. 1 supporter.

That support included helping in the attempt to build the new stadium for the Beloit Snappers.

Today, our generation's version of J.A. Craig is Jim Fitzgerald, Ken Hendricks, and Bill Watson. Their shared passion for their hometown has inspired a vision of an unbeatable, convenient I-90 entertainment destination. And like Craig's Depression-era donation, these gentlemen intend to bring this from concept to reality without public tax money.