Tony Diaz passed away unexpectedly on October 27. Tony was a core organizer of KansasFest for many, many years, and was instrumental in transitioning the event from Avila University to Rockhurst University in 2006. He helped keep it going through the lean years and facilitated its rebirth into the vibrant gathering it remains today.

Ken, Eric, Geoff, Ryan, Tony, and Andrew pose
Tony Diaz (bottom left) with KansasFest friends

His tremendous knowledge of the Apple II and unequaled collection of Apple II artifacts, many of which he brought to KFest over the years, will be sorely missed. His signature session on repairing Apple II disk drives will live on in the KansasFest YouTube archives.

Em Maginnis and Ken Gagne recently reunited for a special episode of Open Apple to reminisce about Tony.

Rest in peace, Tony.