Robert Keeffe

Keeffe, Robert H. MADISON-Robert H. Keeffe, a longtime Madison resident, died on Monday, March 30, 2009, of pneumonia. He was 87. He was born Dec. 8, 1921, in Sparta, to Edmund B. Keeffe, a railroad dispatcher, and Frances M. Carlos Keeffe. The family lived in Adams, and moved to Baraboo in 1926. His older brother, the late Raymond Keeffe of Belmont, Calif., was married to Jean Dwyer of Baraboo. A 1939 graduate of Baraboo High School, he moved to Madison in 1940 and attended Madison Business College for one year prior to enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Lieutenant Keeffe was a bombardier with a B-24 Liberator crew that flew combat missions to Italy, Germany, Austria and Hungary. When the war ended in 1945, he returned to Madison and married Jeanne Hepola. He earned a business degree at the UW-Madison in 1949. He worked for many years as office manager for the Royster Co., an agricultural chemical manufacturer. Bob loved kids of all ages, sports of all kinds, especially football, and the outdoors, especially summers at Crooked Lake in northern Minnesota with his family. Bob and his wife Jeanne also enjoyed volunteer work with Meals on Wheels, Luke House and St. Marys Hospital, and singing in the funeral choir at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church. He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; his son, Patrick, daughter-in-law, Linda, grandsons, Nicholas and Justin of Huntington, NY; sons, Paul and Thomas of Madison; daughter, Susan Kloosterboer, son-in-law, John, grandchildren, Michael, Megan and Kayla of Middleton; and his daughter, Cynthia Keeffe, and son-in-law, Robert Goldstein of Lawrence, Kan. The family wishes to thank the loving staff at Skaalen Home, especially Susan, Shari, Michael, Dixie and Melinda as well as the wonderful 8 SW nursing staff at St. Marys Hospital. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CATHOLIC CHURCH, 5101 Schofield St., Monona on Thursday, April 2, 2009, at 11:30 a.m. Visitation will be at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. Burial will be at Highland Memory Gardens, with military rites conducted by the Madison Veterans Firing Squad. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Alzheimers Association of South Central Wisconsin, 517 N. Segoe Road, Madison, WI 53705. Gunderson East Funeral & Cremation Centers 5203 Monona Drive (608) 221-5420 www.gundersonfh.com