John Francis Keyes

John Francis Keyes, 68, died in Fort Myers on October 20, 2015. He was born in Passaic, NJ on September 14, 1947 and adopted 3 days later by Thomas J. and Evelyn Ross Keyes. John, called “Jack” growing up was drafted into the Army on June 30, 1967. He achieved the rank of sergeant, then lost a leg in Vietnam on January 23, 1968 at the age of 20 as a result of hostile action. He began his coaching career in 1971 at the little league level, coaching his sons Robbie and Danny. In 1993 he began coaching swimming and then softball at Bishop Verot High School. John received his bachelor’s degree in History from USF where he was a member of Golden Key National Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi. He earned a master’s degree in Sport Management from the United States Sports Academy in 2000.

John coached for 44 years, commenting that he spent more time with his teams than he did with his family. In 2007 he was awarded the John Jackson Memorial Award for coaching swimming in Falmouth, ME. He was coach of the year in swimming for 2004, 2007 and 2009 then 2013 and 2014 for softball. John was just awarded the Donna Newberry Perseverance Award for longevity in coaching through adversity.

He was preceded in death by his mother, father and son Danny. He leaves his wife of 22 years, Marcia (Warren) Keyes; his children, Robert Keyes of Ft. Myers and Hollie Nyholm (Peter) of Ft. Myers; four step children, Melissa Corbin (Jeff) of St. Louis, MO, Melonie Rose (Keith) of Orlando, FL, Megan Walker Fountain (Scott) of Ft. Myers, and Brian Walker, M.D. of New York City; grandchildren, Jana and Jakob Keyes of Ft. Myers, Daniel J. and Luke Keyes of Lehigh Acres, and Brandon and Alexis Nyholm of Ft. Myers; step grandchildren, Jeffery and Marshall Corbin of St. Louis, Keith Jr. and Shinead Rose of Orlando, and Aaron and Aaliyah Fountain of Ft. Myers.

A celebration of his life will be held at the Hodges Funeral Home at Lee Memorial Park, 12777 State Rd. 82, Ft. Myers, FL 33913 at 2:00PM on Saturday, October 31, 2015. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the softball program at North Fort Myers High School.

Coaching was his first love, whether it be baseball, swimming, soccer or softball. He looked forward to each day or night spent with his team. Info 239-334-4880