Marvin Lloyd Keene Sr

He was born to the late Lucille and Harold Keene on December 13, 1941 at Sugar Tree Ridge in New Madrid County, MO. After graduating from Portageville High School in 1960, he worked odd jobs around Cape Girardeau and on the construction of I-55. In 1963 he got married and moved to New Orleans where he had previously lived while doing a short stint in the merchant marines. Marvin Sr. supported his young family as a stevedore and as a roofer, eventually owning his own roofing company. However, he always had a passion for horses. In 1966 he was Southeast Louisiana Reining Champion in Baton Rouge where he established a new world record time for barrel racing in a rare circumstance when men contested this event. He eventually acquired quarter horses and raced them at match tracks throughout Cajun country. At the end of the sixties he moved into organized racing and training thoroughbreds. As a horse trainer, his charges won over 400 races at organized tracks through 1988. During the nineties he worked around the country with a crew installing alarm systems for apartment buildings. As poor health started to slow him down, he moved first to Texas and then to Alabama in 2001. In his later years he enjoyed gardening and raising poultry. Most of all, he made friends wherever he went and enjoyed their company immensely.

Marvin Sr. is survived by his son Marvin Jr. and daughter-in-law Alexandra (Sandy) of Birmingham, AL; daughter Tara and son-in-law Greg Roenfeldt of Chicago, IL; son Kyle of Chicago, IL; grandchildren, Veronica (Roni) and Logan Keene of Birmingham, AL, Payton Elizabeth of Chicago, IL; brother Joe and sister-in-law Donna of Kennett, MO; brother Johnie and sister-in-law Brenda of Jackson, MO. He is also survived by five nephews and their spouses. He will be remembered by his cousins, aunts and uncles, many of whom live in Sikeston, MO, and by his many friends and former wife, Phyllis Heise. Marvin Sr. was preceded in death by his parents, brother Eddie, sister Virginia (Ginger) and her husband Robert Brawley.

Visitation and reception is scheduled from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at the Nunnelee Funeral Chapel on 205 N Stoddard St, Sikeston, MO 63801. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 3, 2014 in the Nunnelee Chapel with Marvin’s cousin, Reverend Delores Redfering-Grindstaff officiating. Interment will follow at the Evergreen Cemetery on Highway 61, New Madrid, MO 63869. To send condolences, visit www.dignitymemorial.com/nunnelee-funeral-chapel

Direction of Nunnelee Funeral Chapel, Sikeston, MO.