Keith Lester Kavasch

He was preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Louise, and is survived by his brother Kent and his sisters Kay and Kris. Keith was born on December 16, 1957 in Arcadia, CA. He moved with his family to Fremont in 1968, graduating from Mission San Jose High School in 1976, attending Ohlone College and earning a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo, which led to his life-long career as a California Certified Nurseryman.

Keith had the proverbial “green thumb” from an early age. He planted vegetable gardens since his early grade school years. One day a huge watermelon appeared among the vines in his garden, surprising and amazing him. He was almost fooled, until he felt that it was cold to the touch, it had been placed there by our Dad. Keith also loved family vacations, the outdoors, was active in the Boy Scouts from middle school through high school, becoming a patrol leader and a member of the exclusive Order of the Arrow. His uncanny ability to do voice impressions of friends, teachers and celebrities kept the family and friends laughing. Keith’s later interests, aided by his enthusiasm and incredible memory for details, facts and figures were gold dredging and panning, and horse racing, where he had the “horse sense” to pick and win trifectas.

He was devoted and dedicated to his job as a nurseryman at Navlet’s Garden Center and stayed with their retail outlet in Fremont until it shut down in 2008. He had close bonds and lasting friendships with several co-workers. The depth of knowledge and stellar customer service that a full-service nursery worker provides is something we don’t find much nowadays, but our brother Keith was one of the best. It was around that time when Navlet’s closed that our parents began having health difficulties, and Keith’s love, patience and self-sacrifice helping to care for them at home, made their lives richer, their struggles lighter and the lives of his siblings easier. We are all grateful and thankful for this part of Keith’s life and his role as caregiver. And, he stayed engaged and current on all things green and growing, offering consulting, and doing pruning and plant maintenance for parental and church friends and folks in the community.

Keith was again able to share his vast nursery knowledge with the public last year when he was hired at Regan’s Nursery, getting positive reviews on Yelp and working there until his recent hospitalization and passing.

Keith was stubbornly and defiantly “old school”, eschewing most technology and the Internet. But he kept track of and remembered birthdays, anniversaries and milestones and always sent cards, showing great devotion, caring and concern for his nieces, Elaine and Leslie Kavasch, Megan O’Reilly and his sisters-in-law Catherine Kavasch and Laura Smith and brother-in-law Tom O’Reilly.

Keith was a unique person who marched to his own drummer. He will truly be missed by his family, friends and co-workers. His knowledge, humor and caring touched all of us.