Bernard Keller

Bernard (Bernie) Keller was born on September 28, 1925, in Philadelphia, Pa. to Samuel and Esther Goldstein. He was the adored baby brother of Dorothy and Ethel. He served in the US Army’s observation corps in WWII—landing on the Normandy Beaches about 40 days after D-Day and marching all the way across Europe to Czechoslovakia. When he came home from the war, he attended college at Temple on the GI bill studying business. In 1947, he was introduced to Iris Muskett on a blind date and they were married in December 1948. In his early career, he owned a furniture store and honed his skills in sales and management. Bernie and Iris moved Huntingdon Valley in the Philadelphia suburbs in 1956 and shortly thereafter their only child, Barbara, was born. Bernie lost his father in 1960 but he remained a dedicated son to his mother until she passed in 1980. Barbara married Steve Cohen in 1988 and Bernie gained a devoted son-in-law.

In the early 1960s, Bernie decided to change careers and he spent four months traveling each week to New York City for training as a stockbroker. He passed the exam and began his new career with Bache and Co. in Philadelphia. He loved his work but finally decided to retire from Smith Barney in 1997 at the age of 72. He and Iris moved to Boca Raton, FL where they enjoyed living in a condo with a view of the intra-coastal on one side and the ocean on the other and visiting with their many friends and family members who had also retired to the same area. Bernie lost Iris, his beloved wife of 54 years, in 2002 but he was lucky enough to meet Natalie Kass, who was also widowed, on another blind date in the fall of 2003. He and Natalie spent a wonderful seven years together.

Sadly, Bernie fell and broke is hip in the summer of 2010 and he was not able to walk again. Barbara moved him to a nursing home in Northern Virginia where she could oversee his care and visit him frequently. Although physically and mentally he had declined, he was well loved by the residents and staff because of his cheerful demeanor. He passed away peacefully after a very short illness on Saturday, June 23, 2012.