Kenneth J. Keim

Kenneth J. Keim U.S. Navy Veteran, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 8, 2024, four days after his 82nd birthday. He was the beloved Husband of Geraldine, nee Piwnicki. Loving Father of Kenneth K. (Lisa) Keim, Gregory (life partner Martha) Keim, Julie (John) Senka and the late Lisa Anne Keim. Dearest Grandfather of Stephanie, Taylor, Karly and Abby. Proud Great Grandfather of Aubrey and Everly. Kenneth will be missed by his two pets, Kit Kit and Monty. Visitation is Thursday from 4 PM to 8 PM at Foran Funeral Home, 7300 W. Archer Ave. (55th street just west of Harlem). A Service in Celebration of Kenneth’s life with Military Honors will be at the funeral home on Thursday evening at 7:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in honor of Kenneth to P.A.W.S paws.org or the Animal Welfare League, animalwelfareleague.com Ken’s life can be summed up by the Navy’s motto and core values - Honor, Courage, and Commitment. Ken was born June 4, 1942, to his parents, Frank and Helen Keim. He was a dutiful and responsible son, who cherished his parents. Later in their lives, he drove weekly to their home 2 hours away to help care for them. Eventually, his parents moved down to Chicago to be with him until their deaths. This care and commitment was a value he preached to his children, who took up that torch, and would come full circle back to him, later in his life. He would enlist in the Navy and serve his 4 years. He was honorably discharged, not because he wanted to leave, but because he contracted strep throat, which went untreated, and led to rheumatic fever. This led to afib in his heart, which largely went undetected until he developed other heart complications, later in life. The afib would become a major player in his later years, but he never harbored any resentment. He looked back on his time and when he served, with nothing but pride and a few laughs. He met the love of his life, Geri, in 1959, at religious ed classes and went on to marry Geri August 17, 1963, and remain faithfully by her side for almost 61 years. Until his death, only did they part. They wanted a large family. Geri was pregnant 8 times, resulting in their 3 children, Kenny, Greg, and Julie. They also suffered a stillbirth in 1976. Ken never left Geri’s side. He never forgot his baby, Lisa Ann, and took care of her grave at the cemetery, even recently. His love and commitment included his extended family. Christmas and Easter were always big and celebrated at home. Even when they didn’t have money, they found a way to pay for a gift for everyone. He took care of his sick father-in-law, who died from cancer. He helped his brother-in-law, Eugene, in his later, sicker, years, even when it wasn’t easy or pretty. And he rarely, if ever, complained. He just did it. His service continued in his employment. He worked for Continental Grain, the City of Chicago, and The Chicago Transit Authority. In his tenure at the city, he was responsible for writing programs that took care of other people and kept them safe. For example, he wrote the payroll program so that summer interns would get paid. He wrote the first sex offender database in the city and developed a pre-internet program for the Chicago Fire Department to know structures of buildings and their roofs in the city. This program, alone, had to save lives, as the fire department was aware of the structural integrity of the roof they were stepping on. Nothing could compare to the love and pride he has for his kids and grandchildren. He was a present father, and took pride in coaching their baseball teams when he was younger. He got the boys out of trouble countless times in their younger, more mischievous days. When his daughter came along, he took her on walks around the block nightly after work. They looked for monarch butterflies, as he believed that was Baby Lisa looking over Julie. He went on to coach Julie’s softball teams and went to every high school game he could. He would answer the phone to talk to our friends, even when we thought it wasn’t cool for him to do so. He knew everyone and still asked about them in the weeks before he left us. In his retirement, he didn’t slow down. He loved golfing with his sons. He joined a golf league with them, and you knew to get out of Ken’s way on Thursday afternoon and night. He loved his JC’s and Nicky’s Big Babies on the way home. He and Geri took care of their 3 granddaughters while they were young. He always bought them what they wanted. McDonald’s for Taylor, Taco Bell for Karly, and McDonald’s breakfast for Abby. He used to pick up Taylor and Karly from school, blasting Abba, the Eagles, Hogan’s Heroes, or Fleetwood Mac. Everyone and their dogs, literally, know Ken. When we were young, he fed Miss Kitty and her babies, the local alley cats. He stopped to talk to everyone while walking Kelly, KC, Tweenie, Shaggy, and Monty and was so proud of his dogs. He was the “Cheers Norm” of the neighborhood. When the lady at the end of the block began caring for the feral cats, he brought her cat food to help out. He regularly collected cans to recycle and donated the money to one of the shelters. He sorted used pill bottles for Naws, Animal Welfare League, and South Suburban. He brought used containers, newspapers, and old clothes to the shelters for them to be repurposed. He even loaded our cars for us to do it for him. Due to bad genes and the afib he got from the Navy, he suffered a massive heart attack on April 6, 2021, that required a quadruple bypass. He survived. He was pushing his nurses to let him walk around the next day. His dad instilled in him that if you sit, you die, and he didn’t want to die. He graduated cardiac rehab before even beginning it. He fought. Hard. He went to doctor appointments religiously. He viewed Mass on Sunday morning on TV due to COVID and did his best for everyone. His health really took a turn for the worse on August 13, 2023, when we would see his kidney failure and heart failure worsen. His family watched his body shrink, but his spirit never did. Scroll through Facebook and text messages sent to his family. Every message tells the story of a man who lived a just life, a life full of service, honor, and commitment to his world. Some messages come from people who haven’t seen him in over 40 years. Everyone knew his presence. However, noone will feel this loss more than his family. He made our lives and worlds a better place. While it brings some comfort to not see his body covered in bruises from blood draws and IVs, and scabs from the side effects of medicine, we miss him and will miss him. We know he finally got to meet his Baby Lisa and is reunited with his own parents. We have a new guardian angel that will be with us, even though we’d much rather have him here.

Kenneth J. Keim

June 4, 1942 - June 8, 2024