as others have stated, sorry for your loss. losing someone that's been such a large part of your story is a rough go, for sure.
i echo their sentiments about your collection as well. as previously stated, I thinned my comics immensely. and i bet 10, 15, 20 years from now i'll wish i hadn't. storage space isn't the issue, it was just a sense of "should i move on?" and although i can put on an outwardly brave face and deem that i've moved on, that's wishful thinking i'm sure. why did i collect them? so why did that change?
normally things that have utility and/or provide usefulness are what i engage with mostly, especially with "keepers." just thinking "ooh, i might need that someday" wasn't really doing it for me.
that being said, HOBBYING shouldn't be in my view usefulness or utility. it should be, for lack of a better thought at this moment, what brings me joy
my dork den is truly appalling when viewed in a certain lens. a counterpoint to that is the absolute devastation it would bring my future self if i were to unload it simply because in the here and now i don't play/etc.
stuff that sits in a pile or on a shelf or in a storage space isn't hurting anything. and the POTENTIAL it brings for later on shouldn't be ignored. nostalgia? fresh ideas? getting back with old friends/etc.?
nothing's to say you can't simply press pause on 40k. return when you're good and ready and maybe the rulesets/etc. are more favorable. a buddy of mine at work plays 10th currently and thinks it's simply "too much." things get outdated fast due to the meta. strategims, CPs, all that... it's not very 40k-ish to him he says and he longs for 3rd again or something a wee more simplistic.
sorry again for your loss, and i hope you really, really think before you chuck things