ipad locked owner dead

I recently purchased an ipad from a friend of mine who notified me that the ipad was her ex boyfriends who died about 6 months ago now. she hadn't gone through his things in a really long time so after doing so and it being too painful she decided to sell everything. Long story short out of all the paperwork she still had of his and any other possibility available to figure out the password none unlocked the ipad. Is there a way to reset to factory setting the ipad or anything whatsoever besides actually going to the apple store to do so. closest store is 2 to 3 hours away. please and thank you