Keith Keoppel passed away on Christmas morning, Dec. 25, 2023, at his apartment in Newton. He was 89.
Born to Don and Audrey Keoppel in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Donald Keith Keoppel enjoyed a simple carefree childhood, growing up in small Iowa communities.
Keith went off to Iowa State Teacher’s College (now Northern Iowa University), where he met the love of his life, Connie Clark, who became his bride in 1956.
After a tour in the Navy, the couple returned to the University of Iowa, where Keith received his bachelor’s degree.
He began his medical sales career in St. Louis with Johnson & Johnson. Four years later, the young family, which included three children, moved to Minneapolis with Becton Dickinson.
Three years later, they moved to Chicago, and in 1969, the family moved to Lake Mohawk, where Keith had new responsibilities at BD’s Clay Adams division. He spent 31 years in various sales and marketing positions, retiring in 1994 as marketing manager of B-D Pharmaceutical Systems.
Some people prefer to retire to a slower-paced life of leisure but not Keith and Connie. They moved to Lincoln Park in 2002 to nanny their six grandchildren. and soon after, spurred by a vision of Connie’s, they returned to Sparta to establish Loving Arms, a ministry of the First Presbyterian Church of Sparta for crisis pregnancies.
During this period, Keith also served as director of pastoral care for the church. In 2009, the couple became co-founders of Living Waters Fellowship in Newton.
The Keoppels were avid golfers and members of Lake Mohawk Golf Club and were also prolific gardeners. They loved to travel, but their greatest joy was with their family and in serving their Lord and Savior.
Keith spent countless hours playing with his grandkids, reading books to them and in later years teaching them to golf and drive. He was a great role model for them even to the end of his life.
Their grit, shared values, acceptance, kindness and love made for a profoundly strong couple. Keith was delighted with Connie’s watercolor painting and songwriting accomplishments.
She predeceased Keith in 2013 after 57 years of marriage. Her loss hung heavy upon his heart.
Keith was a man of integrity whose life displayed his love for the church and his love for Jesus. He was humble, kind, thoughtful, generous and pure-hearted.
As blindness overtook him in his final years, he accepted his condition with grace, never complaining and still seeking to help care for others. His gentlemanly manner, his ease of striking up conversation and his compassion won him devoted friends his entire life.
Survivors include three children: Brad of Portland, Ore.; Jill and her companion, Darius Ebner, also of Portland; and Dan and his wife, Donna, of Montville and their children, Zak, Jordan, Spencer, Grace, Addie and Nate. He is also survived by a sister, Judy Anderson of Nora Springs, Iowa.
A memorial service will be held at a future date at the First Presbyterian Church of Sparta.
The family asks that in place of flowers, donations be made to Project Self-Sufficiency (https://www.projectselfsufficiency.org/).