Roy Kessler was born on May 31, 1948 and was only 25 when he passed away on January 25, 1974.

Memories from his friend, Jamey:

"When I was much younger (say 18 years old) I had a HUGE crush on Roy Kessler, along with many other girls, I understand.  I was devastated when he died.   I dreamt about him for many, many years after that.

I only dated him once or twice but he left a huge imprint on my heart.  I remember he was in the band Kentish Steele Period.  That was how I met him.  Eyes met across the room kind of thing.  Hey, I was 18! 

I remember it was at Oil Can Harry's Night Club.  Interestingly enough, Roy was the base player for Kentish Steele Period band and in 1980 I ended up working for a man named Brian Pulham at the Justice Institute of British Columbia who, it turns out, was also a base player for Kentish Steele and the Shantelles at some point as well.  Paul Dean, guitarist was with Kentish Steele as well and went on to be in the group Loverboy.

I was a Go Go Dancer back in the day and actually danced for a reunion of the Grooveyard in 1986 in downtown Vancouver.  Brian asked me to participate as a dancer with Kentish Steele & the Shantelles.  I actually could remember all the old dances like the Monkey, Jerk, Pony, etc.  Originally, I didn't actually start to dance at clubs until 1970, at the tail end of the Go Go era so I never had the opportunity to dance for Kentish Steele around town.  Too bad, oh well, I did the reunion.  It was a blast for me.  My name has changed.  At the time I was Janene Gallagher and went to Centennial High School in Coquitlam.  I graduated in 1967.

Roy Kessler was a special guy and had a wonderful sense of humour.  I still miss him to this day. I remember Roy to be wonderfully charming guy who I absolutely thought the world of.

Thank you for your time and for sharing what you know with me as well.  Memories… sigh…"

All the best,

Jamey Somers