Jan. 5, 1944 – Sept. 8, 2008
Robert J. Keller Jr., 64, of Sweet Home died Sept. 8, 2008 after a 6 1/2- year battle with cancer.
He was born Jan. 5, 1944 in Longview, Wash. to Robert J. Keller Sr. and Roseline H. Keller and was christened at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Berkeley, Calif. He was an Eagle Scout. His family moved to Vallejo, Calif., where he spent much of his elementary and all of his teenage years.
Following junior college he went off to explore the mysteries of the education department at San Francisco State University, and then on to his first year of teaching at Concord, Calif. It was during his second year of teaching that he met the woman who would be his wife of 41 years, Judy J. McGowan. After three years in Concord, they continued their adventures of teaching with a year in Cave Junction.
Those adventures abruptly changed when Mr. Keller was drafted into the Army in 1969. He served as a squad leader and platoon sergeant at AIT; qualified Expert with the 1911 A1 Pistol and M14 Rifle; and qualified Sharpshooter with the M16. He then went on to serve as a military policeman in Germany at Rhein Main Air Force Base.
When the Kellers returned to the United States in 1971 following his honorable discharge from the Army, they settled in Sweet Home and Mr. Keller began what would be a long rewarding teaching career in the Sweet Home School District. At various times in that career he taught third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades at Liberty, Hawthorne and Foster elementary schools.
From his first teaching job to his retirement in 1999, he taught almost 800 students.
When not busy with lesson plans and chess clubs, he also took time to farm the cherry orchards that his wife’s father and mother passed on to them in 1974, giving up some weekends, spring breaks, and each July to spend time preparing the crops and growing his family along with it.
As important as any work was Mr. Keller’s faith. He and his wife raised their family in the Sweet Home Evangelical Church, where they developed life-long friends. He was baptized at the Sweet Home Community Chapel in 2001.
He was an avid reader and storyteller, kept captive for hours by a good novel, or captivating friends, family and even complete strangers with a good yarn about almost anything.
Following his retirement, he and his wife travelled extensively in spite of his diagnosis with multiple myeloma in 2002, using every healthy moment to create memories for those he loved. He was an inspiration with his cheerful attitude and fighting spirit.
Mr. Keller is survived by his wife Judy; daughters and their husbands Heide and Dustin Nichol of Sweet Home, Holly and Gil Vietor of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and Heather and Joel Stockamp of Corvallis; sister Julie McBride of Vancouver, Wash.; brother John Keller of Concrete, Wash.; and mother Roseline Keller of Longview, Wash.; as well as his six grandchildren and 11 nieces and nephews.
Donations on Mr. Keller’s behalf can be made to The Multiple Myeloma Cancer Research Foundation or The Salvation Army.
A graveside service was held Sept. 13 at Liberty Cemetery, with a memorial service following at Community Chapel outdoor amphitheater in Sweet Home.
Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements.