The mention that his illness struggle was brief is the absolute only bright spot of today's news. And even that sucks, but best for his family.
I think he had declined a little over the last years, but watching interviews of him years ago about Star Trek... he got it. He understood the bigger message behind the scifi parts of the story. Others did too to some degree, but watching him talk about it was gold. And to think that he walked into the show in the beginning and thought it was both a mistake and a short-lived thing. He was a big part of why it did so well.