Kenneth Michael "Kenny" Lamb

1951 - 2021

Kenneth Michael "Kenny" Lamb
1951 - 2021
Native of Santa Cruz
Kenneth Michael ("Kenny") Lamb, a native of Santa Cruz, an accomplished writer and businessman, an ardent advocate of sobriety and a loving father, passed away at his home in Olympia, WA, on August 1. He was 69.
A celebration of Kenny's life will be held this morning October 30, commencing at 10:30 a.m. in the Beach View Room at the Dream Inn (175 West Cliff Drive) in Santa Cruz.
A fourth-generation Santa Cruzan and a member of the Cottardo Stagnaro fishing family, Kenny was raised in Pebble Beach (Monterey County) before returning to Santa Cruz in the early 1960s. He attended Bay View, Laurel, Mission Hill, Santa Cruz High and Holy Cross High schools.
Kenny was a stellar athlete in his youth, particularly in basketball, baseball, surfing, bowling, golf and billiards. At Mission Hill he was a guard on his 8th grade championship basketball team that included the late Steve Vomvolakis and his cousin John Carniglia, as well as Marty Gilbert and Murray Fleming. He scored 19 points in the championship game. He played catcher and infield on various all-star baseball teams and was an all-league selection at Holy Cross as a sophomore. As a 15-year-old he won the first Santa Cruz County Surf Contest in the junior novice division.
It was during his teens that Kenny began working as a fish cutter at his family's retail and wholesale fish operations on the Municipal Wharf. He later worked for Cardinale's and Riva Fish House. He was widely considered to be one of the best fish butchers of his generation.
Kenny battled substance abuse issues for much of his early adulthood. In 1987, on his beloved Aunt Gilda Stagnaro's birthday, he entered a recovery facility in Santa Clara County and began his long and challenging road to sobriety. He became a highly sought out speaker and counselor in Narcotics Anonymous for the remainder of his adult life, not only in the western United States, but in Central America as well. He had experienced a remarkable 34 years of sobriety at the time of his death.
Kenny became a father in 1989 to his beloved daughter Jilda (named after his aunt), and eventually opened a successful jewelry business in Washington state, Super Silver Olympia, which he ran with his daughter until the time of his death.
He was also a lifelong writer, primarily of poetry, and in the fall of last year, his book, "Silencers: Selected Poems 1979-2020," was published by the Capitola Book Company. In the last 60 days of his life, he had written more than 50,000 words of poetry and prose. His mind was sharp and fluid, and his spirit indomitable, until the end.
Kenny was preceded in death by his mother, Beatrice ("Betty") Stagnaro, and his father, Johnny Lamb. He is survived by his daughter, Jilda Lamb, and her partner Kyle Thaut; a brother, Gary, and sister Betty Jo; and numerous family and friends in the Monterey Bay region, including his friends Pete and Kathy Pappas, and his cousin Geoffrey Dunn.
Following the celebration of life today, Kenny's ashes will be committed privately to Monterey Bay.


View the online memorial for Kenneth Michael "Kenny" Lamb