Keith A. Gwin

Keith A. Gwin, loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and loyal friend, left his earthly home Thursday, April 20, 2006 to go to his heavenly home to walk and talk with Jesus and reunite with dear family and friends that have gone on before him. He was 75.Keith, the youngest of 10 children, was born March 22, 1931 in Longmont, Colorado to James Clark Gwin and Erma Florence (Edwards) Gwin. Keith was a twin to his sister, Kate, and often quipped that he was a gentleman, and let the lady go first!All of Keith?s elementary and secondary schooling was in Longmont, graduating from Longmont High School in 1948. The fall of that year, Keith joined the U. S. Navy. After basic training he was stationed to the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Valley Forge during the Korean War. Most of his naval service was aboard the Valley Forge as a catapult operator, with the last six months of his enlistment docking seaplanes at North Island in San Diego, California.Keith was honorably discharged from the Navy February 16th, 1953. Upon his discharge, he returned to his family home in Longmont and went into the electrical business with two of his brothers, Ralph and Don Gwin. He later left that business to enter the School of Engineering at CU in Boulder on the G. I. Bill.He married the love of his life, Sharon Miller, June 4th, 1954 at the First Christian Church in Longmont. They made their home in Longmont, where both their children were born. In 1957 they purchased their first home in north Denver, where he worked for the Sunstrand Corporation. He then worked for the Martin Company in Littleton, Colorado, and with that company, was sent to Tucson, Arizona as maintenance supervisor when the Titan Missile sites were being built all around that area for the United States Air Force. After completion and operational, and turned over to the Air Force, Keith, Sharon, and their two children returned to their Denver home. Keith then was hired by Bendix Field Engineering as a hydraulic engineer, working on the tracking antennas for deep space at the NASA site in Quito, Ecuador. The family moved to Quito, November of 1964. After his contract was up in Quito, Bendix put in on loan to Sylvania Corp. in Massachusetts for one month preparing an antenna to be sent to the NASA station in Australia. Bendix then transferred him to the Goldstone Tracking Station in the Mojave Desert, California, where Keith and his family lived for thirty-three years. Keith retired in 1991. He and Sharon moved back to the beautiful Rocky Mountains that they missed for so many years while living in the middle of the desert. Although Longmont natives, they decided to settle in Loveland, where they enjoyed being near family and friends. Keith was a member of LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont. He and Sharon had helped in the establishment of a number of churches where they lived. They had church in their home in Quito, where they became acquainted with Marge Saint, widow of Nate Saint, one of the five missionaries killed by the Auca Indians in Ecuador in 1956. Keith was also a member of the American Legion and VFW as a young adult, but his church membership was his primary interest and focus because he loved the Lord with all of his being. He was a devoted family man and dear friends, who always put others first-- before his own wants and needs. He loved being a grandpa! He wanted everyone to remember what he knew to be true?that those who live in the Lord never see each other for the last time.Keith was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers: Ralph, Robert, Roy and Donald Gwin and two sisters: Anita who died as a young child and Kathleen Winkler, his twin sister.He is survived by his wife, Sharon Gwin of Loveland; two children, Martin Gwin of Loveland, Colorado and Debra Miller and her husband Tim of Suwanee, Georgia. Five grandchildren: Sarah, Timothy, and Christopher Miller of Suwanee, Georgia and Zachary and Brianna Gwin of Loveland. Also surviving is one brother, Glen Gwin and his wife Ina of Longmont; two sisters: Maxine Stratton and her husband Everett and Marian Adler and her husband Floyd, both of Longmont; sister-in-laws: Bernice Gwin, Elma Gwin, and Marian Gwin all of Longmont and Edith Gwin of Loveland along with numerous nieces and nephews.Memorial services will be held on Tuesday, April 25 at 2:00 p.m. at LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont with Stan Sack and Lane Hardy officiating. Cremation arrangements were entrusted to Howe Mortuary of Longmont.Memorial contributions may be given to Overseas Outreach, a mission to the Ukraine, which is a mission of Sharon?s cousin, Rick Deighton and his wife Della, or to LifeBridge Christian Church.