The co-founder of Mirage Communications and KLM, Ken Holladay, K6HCP, of Gilroy, California, died October 14 after an extended illness. He was 75. Holladay and Everett Gracey, WA6CBA (SK) co-founded Mirage Communications, now a part of MFJ. He also was the “K” in KLM Electronics, Inc, which he co-founded with Leeland “Mel” Farrer, K6KBE, and Mike Staal, K6MYC.

A radio amateur from his high school days and an ARRL Life Member, Holladay was a California native and attended San Jose Junior College. He wrote several articles in the 1960s and 1970 for Ham Radio magazine and for QST. He and his wife Jacqui published Electro Buyers Guide. He was an active builder and experimenter on the VHF and UHF bands and was an early participant in EME activity on 50 MHz and 1296 MHz.

Holladay also had a strong interest in restoring and racing Porsches, and he and his wife belonged to several orchid societies. In the 1990s Holladay co-founded the “Orchids in the Park” orchid sale held in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco each year.