Kenny Evans was born in 1935, in a town named Vanceburg in eastern Kentucky. He was the seventh of eleven children born to a tobacco farmer and his wife, into a family who knew how to appreciate and make the most of every hard-earned dollar.

Kenny left home at 14 and went north to try to find work to help support his family back home. He first went to Michigan, where his oldest sister lived with her husband and children, and worked cutting down trees for lumber. He kept only what money he needed to get by on and sent the rest to his parents in Kentucky.

By the age of 20, Kenny ended up in Weston, Ohio, where he met and married the love of his life, Kay Long. Kay’s dad, John, was a block and brick mason, and had been most of his life. He taught Kenny the trade, and Kenny learned to be an expert craftsman.

Kenny never went to school beyond the 9th grade, but he knew that he wanted to own his own business, so he started taking correspondence classes on subjects such as Algebra, Geometry, and English in order to teach and prepare himself to be a successful and learned businessman.

Kenny went from working with his father- and brother-in-law on homes for people around their local area, to working for big union companies, such as S. A. Storer, on large commercial buildings, such as the Math and Science Building at BGSU. At one point early in his career, Kenny drove back and forth to a job in Dayton every day for 6 months because he didn’t want to be away from Kay and their three daughters. This deep love for his family was another reason for Kenny’s desire to be his own boss, so that he could take jobs closer to home and play an active part in his family’s lives.

Kenny’s first attempt at having his own business lasted just a few years. It was a business that was started with a friend, but they found that they each had different goals in mind, so they decided to dissolve the business so that they could remain friends. Kenny then went back to work for another company for a few years while he decided what he planned to do next. Then, one evening in 1973, he was at home having supper with his wife and daughters, when suddenly he looked up and asked, “What would you think if we were to start up another business? I know I said that I didn’t think that I would want to do that again, but I think we can make it work.” And that was the beginning of K & K Construction, and Kenny’s slogan: “You can try the rest, but stick to the best!”

For many years, K & K Construction employed 6 or 8 good masons and mason-tenders, and earned a reputation of being a fair and honest company providing quality work at reasonable prices, and Kenny and Kay were well-liked and respected by their employees, customers, and peers alike.

Kenny was a humble and hard-working man who wanted to offer quality workmanship that was affordable and worth every penny, and that is the foundation of that K & K Construction was built on.

Kenny passed away at the age of 58 in 1994, from complications from a blood disorder, and Kay followed him in 2006, but their legacy lives on.

Their son-in- law, Tim Getz, started working for the company at the age of 19, and learned the business from Kenny from the ground up.

Tim and Kim Getz bought the business in 1997, and they continue to keep the legacy alive with the help of their son, Tyler, who graduated from BGSU in 2010 with a degree in Construction Management. Today, K & K Construction employs an average of 30 talented masons, mason-tenders, and concrete finishers, and is capable of providing skilled workmanship for most residential and commercial projects.