Obituary
Bernard “Ben” R. Keeler
Bernard “Ben” Keeler passed away on November 1st. Ben grew up in LaCrosse, attending “original” Central High School during the war years before joining the Navy and serving in the Pacific. After World War II, while working in Guam, Ben heard about Dolores Betz and returned home to LaCrosse to meet her. Theirs was a very happy marriage. In the end, Ben got his engineer’s license the hard way, after a year’s worth of evening self-study. That sort of discipline brought great success in his work at Dairyland Power. He enjoyed electrical engineering and felt proud that his sub-station design has yet to be improved upon. While at Dairyland, he worked in close cooperation with Jack Leifer, who also became his golf partner of over 50 years. As he and Jack advanced through the ranks, Ben got a chance to practice his real love, construction engineering. Ben enjoyed the chance to design Dairyland’s new headquarters, completed just before he retired. Ben played golf with passion and shot his age every year from age 75 to age 83. He counted his trips to Scotland with his family as highlights of his golfing career. In his retirement, he and Dolores were able to visit the two of his three children who had followed his instructions to move to a warmer climate, Laura in Arizona (with husband Jamie and children Rebecca and Kristen) and Tom in Florida (later in North Carolina with his wife, Kim). His youngest son, Jim, spent many years sharing the fruits of his grilling talent with his father. His surrogate daughter, Diane, remained a constant source of support. After retirement, Ben partnered with his good friend and neighbor, Al Lien, on many a Habitat for Humanity project. He also enjoyed lively political discussions with his brother, Ray. At Ben’s request, no services will be held. Ben requested that no memorials be given but those who disregard his wishes might consider donating in Ben’s name to the local chapter of Habitat. Coulee Region Cremation Group is assisting the family. Online condolences may be left at www.couleecremation.com.
My sincere sympathy to you, Tom, and your family.
Hi Cindy,
Thanks so much. Dad has a good life and he was golfing until the last month — and still beating me this summer. It’s great to get back to LaCrosse. What a great place!
Sincerely,
Tom
Tom/Laura/Jim:
No words fit…….
Love
Greg, Sue and Family
Hi Greg and Sue,
Thanks. I remember standing with you at my mother’s funeral. Your parents were always so kind to me and I know that my parents both held you in high regard.
Sincerely,
Tom
Ben was a true and loyal co-worker at DPC. I sensed from my beginning there that Ben was serious, dedicated and knowledgeable.My only contacts with Ben were at work, but I knew that this same loyalty and dedication carried on into his private life as well. It was a privilege to know Ben and a greater privilege to have worked with him at Dairyland.
Jim Taylor (Former General Manager, DPC)
My condolences to his family, Jim, I am thinking of you and lifting you all up in prayer. You have been an amazing loving and caring son.
Diane
Ben was a great friend to my Dad, Jack Leifer. Both at work and the golf course. We should all have friend like those two. The stories I have heard of their friendship and the eye witness accounts tell the tale of that friendship. They were truly blessed together. We will truly miss Ben.
Our prayers are with you and you family Jim. He is with your wonderful Mom now. Peace be with you, Nancy & Clyde
I met Ben in 2002 at Drugans Golf Course were we played many rounds of golf together. It was such a joy to play golf with Ben because of his passion for the game. I have golf recordings with dates and yes, he did score his age or better every year that I played with him. He was the type of individual who never spoke ill of anyone and was very proud of his family.
I had much respect for Ben and will always remember our friendship.
With my sincere sympathy to his family.
Thanks, Gary, for your many kindnesses to Dad over the year. — Tom
Laura and family. My thoughts are with you now. Laura, it’s been a long time sense we have seen each other. So sorry for your loss.
Peggy Ahern
I read of Ben’s passing and wanted to send my condolences. He was one of my good friends in high school a couple of hundred years ago.
I was privileged to have the opportunity to have known Ben through work at Dairyland Power. I remember him to have been a strong family man, kind and gentle.
I didn’t work directly with Ben but worked closely with a couple of others whom he mentored. They continued his tradition of excellence in construction engineering.
My sincere regrets to Ben’s family and close friends; I know he will be missed.
Tom, so sorry to hear of your loss. Losing your folks is hard….I still remember serving your mom and dad at Schmidty’s so many years ago. They were a fun couple. Hope you are well. Hope to connect up with you again some day.
So sorry to hear about Ben’s passing, my condolences to his family. I also worked with Ben at Dairyland from 1982 until his retirement. He was my supervisor in the Substation Design area. He also played golf with my Dad over the many years. Always a great guy to work with, learned a lot from him. Many of his substation designs are still in use today. I owe much of my success here at DPC to following in his and Jim Peplinski’s (also worked for Ben) footsteps!