Hundreds of people packed Montesano’s Fleet Park Thursday evening to share their memories of Kenneth Koonrad who was one of two people found shot to death at a Shelton residence Tuesday.

Koonrad and Tara M. Abernathy were found dead in Abernathy’s Shelton residence. The suspect in the murders, Jared Abernathy, was located at a motel in Pendleton, Ore., the following day and shot himself after a long standoff with Oregon police.

Christyn Delgado and her husband Ryan were among the crowd, reminiscing about a man Christyn described as a “great guy” who would pick hers and other Montesano kids up after sports practices. “He touched so many lives. Everyone loved him.” Koonrad’s young son was also in the park, and Delgado said there was some comfort in knowing Koonrad’s “legend is living on through his son.”

Chatting with friends in the park were Cathleen Quinton and Callee Douglas. “He would literally give you the shirt off his back. Whatever you needed, he’d give it to you,” said Quinton, who shared memories dating back to their Montesano High School days. Douglas, who works at the Hot Shots Espresso stand across the street from Fleet Park, remembered living in the same apartment complex when she moved out on her own for the first time. “We shared a wall,” she said. “He told me and my boyfriend that if we ever needed anything just to ask.” She recalled Koonrad being her first customer almost every Sunday morning. “He’d come in for coffee and we’d end up talking for two hours,” she said.

Dayna Daneker O’Connor said, “I’m just still in shock. This is the kind of thing you watch on the news in other places but never imagine would happen to someone I knew. I just saw him at a store a couple weeks ago and almost walked right past him when I heard ‘Hey you!’ I turned and we had a short conversation. I never would have imagined that would be my last conversation with him ever.”

O’Connor continued, “I knew who Kenny was from childhood just from living in Montesano, but about five years ago I dated his brother for a couple years and Kenny became like a brother to me. It remained that way even after his brother and I went our separate ways. He was always so funny, always joking around with me and everyone else. He was also an amazing father and took that role very seriously, and his son is so kind also and I truly believe that was from Kenny’s great influence. He was such a proud dad watching his son in sports. I told his son tonight that his dad will live on through him. He is going to be missed by many, me included.”

Jane Wright of Montesano organized the vigil. She wrote on a Facebook page she created for the event, “I would like to let everyone know there is an account set up at Great Northwest Federal Credit Union in Aberdeen. This will help the family with any expenses that come along with this tragedy. Just call or go into the branch at any of the locations and let them know this is for the Kenny Koonrad account.”