Very sorry at the loss of a friend... over the years I've lost 9 friends in aviation accidents and wondered at the time just why they did this or that... or even attempted the flight. I, like many have been faced with a similar situation to this pilot, not once but dozens of times... My response was to climb while staying in the vicinity of the airfield... If I hadn't reached a clear safe altitude before succumbing to icing problems I'd be in a position to return while able to keep the speed up...
Once again... very sorry for your loss of a friend.