Barrington entrepreneur Kresmery loved to share

With a tough exterior and an entrepreneurial spirit undeterred by obstacles, businessman Ken Kresmery never hesitated to take on new challenges.

Kresmery, of Barrington, died at 81 on Nov. 1 after a brief illness, his family said. Active until about two months ago, he had plans to expand his chain of Hacienda money transfer stores in Elgin, sons Marc and Kurt Kresmery said. He had another son, Eric.

"The three of us boys said, 'You better slow down,'" Marc Kresmery said. "It was always something. He was always on the move."

Ken Kresmery dabbled in many Elgin-based businesses over the decades.

He owned an Elgin-based collection agency that had seven offices, ranging from Rockford to Indianapolis; he built Kennington Square Townhomes in Elgin, where he also owned and managed several apartment buildings; and he owned the Grocery Store Club and Warehouse Bar, a club in Elgin in the late '70s and '80s.

At the time of his death, he also owned insurance offices in Elgin.

Perhaps his most unusual venture was founding Reflejos, the first Latino newspaper in the Fox Valley and now part of Paddock Publications, which also owns the Daily Herald. "He didn't speak Spanish, but he saw a need for it," Marc Kresmery said. "He saw that nobody had it out there. He figured he'd try it."

Ken Kresmery liked to forge his own path, Kurt Kresmery said.

"The way he attacked problems - he did it in an unusual fashion. You always kind of scratched your head at the beginning," he said. "But if he went up against an issue, he just figured out his way around it."

Ken Kresmery always was confident in his ways, his sons said.

"He did it his way or he'd bark at you," Marc Kresmery said. "He taught you that hard work pays off."

"He was constantly trying to teach you, 'This is the best way to do this,'" Kurt Kresmery said. "You may agree with him or not, but he didn't do it in a way you felt he was giving you a lesson."

After he served in the U.S. Army in Germany during the Korean War, his eyesight prevented him from becoming a commercial pilot.

He nonetheless learned how to fly after buying a World War II Ryan PT-22 airplane with a buddy.

That turned into a lifelong passion for aviation, as he bought several other planes on which he gave countless rides to relatives and friends. He held yearly parties at Poplar Grove Airport for the past two decades, the most recent in August, attended by more than 500 people.

Ken Kresmery also loved to collect vintage cars, which he happily shared with others. "He didn't keep them to himself, " Kurt Kresmery said. "If you wanted to borrow one to take your wife on a drive on a Sunday afternoon, he'd give it to you."

After two divorces, Ken Kresmery found love again about three years ago with his companion Quinn Seligmann, his sons said. He had eight grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

He touched countless people in his lifetime, by helping them find their path or even giving them a place to stay, Marc Kresmery said. "Anybody who's met him has a story about him," he said.

And he was never, ever bored. "Another car, another plane, another business," Kurt Kresmery said. "He was always on the move to start something new."

Visitation is 3 to 9 p.m. Friday at Morizzo Funeral Home, 2550 Hassell Road, Hoffman Estates. Funeral Mass is 10:30 a.m. at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 410 First St., Cary, followed by graveside services at St. John Nepomucene Cemetery, 615 N. River Road, Algonquin.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1414 Endowment Fund, 5151 Orth Road, Box 14, Poplar Grove, IL 61065 or a charity of choice.