Elmer Virgil Keech

Elmer Virgil Keech, one of America’s Greatest Generation, died March 27, 2022, just a few months shy of 100 years of age. His memorial service will be at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April 2, 2022 at College Hill United Methodist Church. He is survived by his sister, Lola Jane Collinge of Emporia; his daughters, Pam (Ron) Harnden and Marilyn Bean; 5 grandchildren, David (Cheryl) Bean, Jennifer (Rakesh) Singh, Aaron Harnden, Emily (Tony) Lytle, and Eric Harnden; and 5 great-grandchildren, Ashley, Austin, and Caitlyn Bean and Nora and Max Lytle. Elmer was born and raised with his three sisters, Dorothy, Florence, and Lola on a hardscrabble farm located 8 miles north of Emporia, Kansas, by his parents, Harvey and Mary Keech. He attended Maxson School, a one-room, one-teacher school, through 8th grade and then graduated from Emporia Senior High School at the age of 16 in January 1939. Elmer was a gifted student, particularly in math and science, and was very mechanically inclined, traits which, along with a substantial work ethic, served him well in life. Within a few years after graduating from high school, Elmer moved to Wichita, Kansas, and accepted an assembly line job with Boeing for 50 cents an hour. Although his job provided him a draft deferral, Elmer joined the Army Air Corps in 1942. He qualified for an Army Specialized Training Program conducted at Bradley Polytechnic Institute, but when the Army decided it needed Infantry soldiers more than engineers, Elmer was sent to the west coast for training and then was off to the Pacific. There he served as a rifleman, scout and demolition specialist in many combat operations from the Philippines to Okinawa. He received several citations and medals. Needless to say, Elmer, and those serving with him, wildly celebrated the news of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and the end of the war! After the war, Elmer returned to Wichita, where Boeing rehired him and he made plans for his future. He rented a room on Douglas Street and his landlady thought he should check out the young adult class at her church, College Hill Methodist Church. There he met Alice Marie Crippen. Within months he proposed marriage and was shell-shocked when she accepted! He was off to K-State on the GI Bill to earn his engineering degree. Elmer and Alice married between semesters on February 7, 1947. With Elmer working as much as he could while taking classes and Alice working at a title abstract company, Elmer graduated as quickly as possible and they returned to Wichita where Elmer was employed as a Boeing engineer. Life came fast after that, with daughter Pam arriving first and then daughter Marilyn. Elmer, Alice and others formed the Architects Sunday School class at College Hill Church and were active members for the remainder of Alice’s life. Soon Elmer was sent by Boeing to provide technical support on Air Force bases and to investigate accidents throughout the US and eventually as the Boeing Representative for Europe and North Africa. The family moved often, living in Idaho, Florida, Georgia, and England. The Keech’s took full advantage of the moves, traveling throughout the United States and, during their 3 years in England, throughout Europe, into Egypt and Morocco and the Holy Lands. In 1962, Elmer and Alice thought it was important to return to Wichita for their daughters’ schooling. The family returned to a busy life of school and church activities and built the home where Elmer lived until his death. Eventually the daughters married, and grandchildren were on the way. Elmer spent much of his time away from his job doing yard care, and all sorts of home improvement projects, including his daughters’ homes and work at the church—he could do just about everything! He retired at 65 years of age after a career with Boeing that had begun when he was 20. Elmer and Alice traveled, owned a cabin in Colorado for several years, played in a couples’ bridge club, enjoyed and traveled with grandkids and continued church activities until Alice’s death in 2011. Elmer carried on after Alice’s death, even learning how to cook (after a fashion). Last fall, he was still mowing his own yard and cleaning up leaves and fallen branches. In the last few months, his quality of life deteriorated very quickly, and he moved in with Marilyn two months ago. Until the end, his mind was sharp and he remained aware of current political events and the status of the stock market, particularly his Boeing stock. When Pam took over his finances just two months ago, it was difficult to read the writing in his checkbook register, but the math in it was spot on. Elmer enjoyed what he called his long journey from being a rednecked plowboy in Lyon County, Kansas, but he missed Alice deeply—she was his rock. And he is now with her again. No doubt he is finding ways to improve the Pearly Gates! A memorial has been established with Kansas Honor Flight, P.O. Box 2371, Hutchinson, KS 67504. Services in care of Downing & Lahey East Mortuary.