Becky Ellgen was 3 years old when her parents learned their daughter had Type 1 diabetes.

Faced with the news, Ken Ellgen did what was second nature to him. He armed himself with knowledge and decided to create the best life possible for his daughter.

Because of his selfless love for his two daughters, his wife and five grandchildren - as well as his work raising money for juvenile diabetes - he was named Father of the Year at an American Diabetes Association gala on June 5.

Few in the crowd applauding his heartfelt speech realized that he was coming to the end of a six-year battle with prostate cancer. Mr. Ellgen died Aug. 30 at Denver Hospice. He was 57.

"Just having your kids think you're OK is the best," Mr. Ellgen said in an interview with CBS4 News' Brooke Wagner that aired before the ADA event. "I can't imagine anything that would mean more to me than that."

Mr. Ellgen retired in 2007 after 35 years with Xcel Energy, too fatigued from fighting cancer to give the job 100 percent, said his wife, Susan.

"His was a story for those who believe that with hard work, anything can be achieved," said Becky Fenton, who gave birth to Mr. Ellgen's fifth grandchild the day after the Father of the Year event. "He was told by a teacher that he would never be anything but a blue-collar worker."

Mr. Ellgen was born in Minnesota, but his family moved to Colorado in 1953.

In his early working years, he was a pipe fitter for what was then Public Service Company of Colorado, but went back to school while still on the job and raising a family. He earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Columbia College. He soon moved into the Public Service Co. financial department.

"My dad would see a need and say, 'Hey, this is what we have to do,' " Fenton said. "He didn't move up the ladder to jobs that were there. He created the jobs that were needed. He was an incredibly intelligent man."

Ginger Iiams knew her boss was ill when she hired on as his assistant.

"I thought I'd be someone for him to lean on in the bad times," Iiams said. "Instead, it was the opposite. I was struggling to finish my degree. I was trying to figure out how to be a single mom. He helped me far more than I helped him. He would simply look at people and put them at ease.

"He inspired fierce loyalty. I feel as if I lost a friend, a mentor and a father figure."

Susan Ellgen has lost her partner of 36 years. The two met at Hinkley High School in Aurora.

"He was one of my brother's friends, and I figured out that he could help me with geometry," Susan Ellgen said with a laugh. "He used to tease me that my problem with geometry was that it involved common sense."

She paused and choked back tears.

"He was a very honest man, set on doing the right thing. He led by example. And he always, always worked to make me happy. I would touch him, or he would touch me, and everything would seem OK. We were so good for each other. I don't know much of life without him."

Fenton says that her dad's legacy lives on in his family.

"When he found out that his grandchild, my sister's daughter, was diagnosed with leukemia, he was at the hospital by her bedside around the clock. He was sick at the time, but nothing could keep him away," Fenton said.

"He made sure we had so many life experiences. We traveled all over the world, and he taught us never to judge people. And for him, his kids were first, no matter what."

Mr. Ellgen is survived by his wife; daughter Becky Fenton and her husband, Chuck; daughter Erin Kerr and her husband, Mark; five grandchildren; his mother, June Ellgen; and his younger brothers, Wes and David Ellgen.

Services were Sept. 4. Contributions in Mr. Ellgen's name can be made to the American Diabetes Association, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, or Denver Hospice.