22 Sep 2025 3 min read

What I Know (Part I)

Dad, posing with cita

"What happened?"

I get that question quite a bit, and I understand why. Myron Chenault, my father, spent the majority of his life existing above the fray. Dad remained a towering figure at every opportunity and turn in so many lives. It makes sense that so many of us feel this loss as senseless on various levels.

Rather than tell a story or send a notice a thousand times, this website will be the place where it lives. I hope what I do here helps people deal with the loss.

When I received word that Dad had passed away, I was at home in Louisville, KY. The officer I spoke with approached me with professionalism but a bit of hesitation. He informed me that Dad had passed away in a Days Inn in Portage, IN, and had been found by hotel staff sometime that day. I was listed as next-of-kin on Dad's phone but there wasn't much else about me in his room or on his person that would have given them clues as to who I was.

On the other end of the phone, I was just as hesitant.

I know my father as a person who often has disappeared for extended periods for reasons that were sometimes explainable. It was a challenge growing up, also knowing that at any moment I could get a call letting me know he was being detained or hospitalized. Eventually, I understood that I needed to remain ready but not let it drag me under. As adults with friends and fathers like mine, we have all prepared ourselves that way.

The next few days were emotionally hazy so I won't go into them here but the important thing is that I had to quickly make a plan with family to ensure Justice, my kid, was taken care of before I went to Indiana.

When I arrived, the entire staff of the Days Inn greeted me. Dad had been beloved there as well as everywhere else. They presented my father's belongings to me with care and grace just in time for the arrival of Portage law enforcement.

First, it should be said that the officer in question was warm and kind and known to the Days Inn staff. I was met with apologies for my loss and some basic questions about who Dad was to me, and I was left to ask the questions I wanted to ask. I think this is where you—the reader—will find what you're looking for.

Here's what I know:

Dad had suffered a heart attack on Tuesday of the week of his death. Friends and family who were present with him during the week had repeatedly tried to get him to get help. Dad refused that help and promised to go to the emergency room the next day. When the police found him in the Days Inn, he was already gone. It's likely that he had multiple heart attacks and passed away, according to what I've been told and what information has been provided.
How he decided on the Days Inn in Portage is anyone's guess, but I have a hunch that it was a familiar place to him after working in the area so long. I remember eating at the Denny's attached with him a few times. He was (as usual) tremendously lucky in that he found compassionate and caring people, but it wasn't all luck. The profound generosity of spirit and likability meant that Dad wasn't alone even in his last moments. The people of that place took great care of him, and I'll never forget it.
We're never going to fully understand all of Dad's choices in the months leading up to this shocking loss, but in future posts, I'll talk about the dramatic effect his memory issues had on his life. We, his community, can learn from our experiences with him at this stage of his life.

Please stay tuned for Part II. It's worth it.