Uncle Norm, We miss you very much. We hope dad, uncle Joe, uncle Father Jim, & uncle Paul are having the time of your lives in heaven. Each of you played a very important role in my life. I am always proud of the family I was so fortunate to be a part of. When I think of you I always feel very lucky that you were my uncle. RIP

I was a member of the last graduating class at Farmersville High School in 1962. Coach Keefner was not only a great coach but person who taught much more than the skills of basketball and baseball. He influenced my life to be the "best you can be" After all the sporting events were long gone, his example and influence remain. Fot that I am extremely grateful. This is a legacy that last. Rev. Paul H. Wiegert

One of the greatest treasures in our lives was having Norm as a neighbor. He was so good to us and our children and foster children. You couldn't ask for a more caring, fun-loving friend. He truly was a good man and will be missed by us all. Our condolences to all his family; he was loved and will be missed.

Norm was my basketball coach, in Farmersville, during 1959-1963. I always looked up to him as someone who helped influence my life and the lives of many kids. He will be missed

Uncle Norm was not only my uncle but Godfather and someone I always looked up to and sought his advice. I was privileged to have the opportunity to, in recent years, spend time golfing, going to dinner and playing cards with him. He is now getting beat playing cards with my Dad, Uncle Bill & Uncle Fr. Jim. I loved Uncle Norm very much, he is going to be tremendously missed by all of us.

Norm was a great coach and friend. I have many memories from the 1957 and 1958 Farmersville basketball teams where this was Norm's first coaching and teaching job. The 1957 team his first year of coaching had a record of 23 - 5. Most of all I will remember Norm for his preparing me for lives journey . My condolences to the family, he will be missed and I will think of him often in the future as I have been the past.

I feel very fortunate to have known Norman. I have some very fond memories of him. At Christmas time I always make peanut clusters. Norm loved them. He politely informed me one summer day that I really didn't have to wait until Christmas to make them. He thought it would be okay for me to make them in July. I would also send peanut clusters for him when my husband went to Florida to stay with Norm on golf trips. Norm would always hide them from the guys staying with him. I believe one year, he even hid them from his niece, Virginia, and her friends that stayed at his place. Norm was such a character. He always made me smile. On a more serious note, Norm was such a caring and thoughtful man. He loved to talk and brag about his family. He was so proud of them and loved them so much. He always thought of others before himself. I remember all of the days that he came to sit and visit with my husband, Mick, when he had had a series of medical problems. To Norm's family and friends, I give you my sympathy and pray that you truly know how blessed your life is because of having Norm apart of it. I know he has blessed mine.

Dear Kathryn Torricelli, I am so sorry to hear of your brother's death. I will remember him in my prayers this week and at Mass tomorrow. Your old school friend, Helen Murphy.

DEAR FRIEND NORM, WE HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER ALONG TIME. DURING THE PAST SIX YEARS WE BECAME VERY GOOD FRIENDS. WHEN I WAS WELL-- YOU WERE THERE, WHEN I WAS ILL, YOU WERE THERE, WHEN I PLAYED GOLF-- YOU WERE THERE, AND ALWAYS WHEN I NEEDED A FRIEND, YOU WERE THERE ! NOW I CAN NOT DO THOSE THINGS WITH YOU-- BUT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THERE !!!!!!

Norm was a dear friend and a wonderful human being--we will always remember him in our thoughts and our prayers. Our deepest sympathy to the Keefner family.

The Keefner family and the Buscher family grew up around the corner from from each other-thru St.Joe's. Cathedral and the rest of the North end of Spfld. They were like family.Hope we end up in heaven with Norm and the rest of them.

My Dear Friend Norm. Oh how I've remembered you all these many years. You, along with Ray Ramsey, Jim Belz, Luke Gleason and their families were the greatest. Dealing with Coaches, prep, colligate and profession over the years, none compared with you and the guys. You All are my favorites. So much so that you and Fritzi Belz were my Son Richards God-Parents and I gave him the middle of Norman, after you. We've been told that in God's house there are many mansions, and I'm sure yours has a Basketball Court and a Putting Green. My condolances to your family. Lorn Brown, Morris, Il.

We were so sorry to hear of Norm's death. We fondly remember the happy smile he had for everyone--even those of us who were not a close friend. We especially remember a St. Joe's Chilli supper and working in the kitchen with Norm. What fun he was!! You are in our prayers. We know that God is" Well Pleased" with Norm and has received him warmly!!

Below is the one of the reflections presented at his funeral mass - Most of you know me, I am Norm’s niece Virginia. Yesterday, my mom Kathryn and I, sat around the kitchen table, and with a few tears and a lot of laughter, began wondering how Uncle Norm would be remembered. We suppose it will depend on who you are, but you might begin by thinking how he choose to live his life. With STYLE: As the pictures show, Norm never seemed bothered by his chicken legs or big “Keefner” ears. With PRIDE: March 1, 1960 was one of Norm’s greatest days. Early on, I believed that was because it was the day I was born. But as he reminded me each and every year, it was because Farmersville beat Griffin in the best basketball game ever played. He even had that on the card he sent my Mom on the day I was born. With FAIRNESS: Norm never felt he could marry and make one woman so happy and so many others so sad. With PLANNING: Norm only moved twice in his life and he did this without ever packing a box or lifting a finger. With LOYALTY: For nearly 20 years, Norm played golf with the same group of guys, at the same course, on the same day, and at the same time. The games ended with the same disagreements and exchanging the same quarters. With CONFIDENCE: Norm was never hard of hearing, it was the rest of us who mumbled. With OPEN-MINDNESS: Norm felt woman should enjoy golf too - just not at Lincoln Greens or before his tee times. At the family golf outing each year - we teamed him with girls who don’t usually golf and have very small bladders. With PATIENCE: Norm always wanted to have a great basement for parties. So after waiting 70 years, my brothers and husband followed his design to give him his dream “club-house” with 3 Tvs, pool, ping-pong, darts, card tables, a fully stocked bar and walls covered in memories. His design even includes a full bath and bedroom for whoever might not be able to make it home. With DUTY: Norm’s official start to Christmas was Friend-n-Deed with the F-Troop, the Brooklyn, then on to the Lazy with the “Dingbat”. With HUMILITY: Norm never bragged too much about his talents, except for his dancing. He often said, if his tap-dancing teacher would have had more patience and his parents would have popped for the lessons, he would have been a star. With INTEGRITY: Although Norm was a very public man, he was also very private. He hated gossip. He was a great friend and confidant - he would say “It’s your story to tell”. He was not judgmental except maybe with “gimme putts”. He could hold his own in most debates - but he held no grudges. Norm was a man of deep faith. He believed in and lived by being a man of his word. How you remember Norm should be as unique to you as he was a person. For us, it begins with a smile, moves to a smerk, and knowing that when that one great scorer came to mark against his name, it wasn’t whether he won or lost, it was how Norm chose to play the game.

I knew Norm in high school and he asked me to his senior prom. When I was a senior at Ursuline, I invited him to mine. He was a really nice guy and we had a great time at both occasions. Always enjoyed seeing him in different sports at Cathederal. Haven't seen him since he graduated from Cathedral. My husband and I were so sorry to hear of his passing. I knew he was special even then. Please accept our condolences.

After Norm and SHS won the City basketball championship, Norm was holding the city trophy. Someone took a photo of the young future city ball players (about 8 years old) looking at the trophy just wanting to touch it. When Norm say the photo, he quiiped "Those three kids will probably beat us in the city tourney in about 10 years!" What a laugh he got! DWH

This is the reflection given by Tim Torricelli at the funeral celebration. Well this turn out sure dispels Norm‘s fear of anybody showing up at his services. What a wonderful crowd to share in our celebration of his life. Let me take this opportunity say what an honor it is to be up here sharing my thoughts of Norm and how much he meant to each and every one of us. We have lost an uncle, a brother, godfather, coach, friend, and teacher. One of his teaching responsibilities was driver’s education. This might be hard for some of you to believe if any one here had the opportunity to witness his driving ability. I had the privilege to share many great first in my life over the years with Norm and thought that I would share some of these with you now. As I reflect on some of my experiences , I hope that this might bring back some of the firsts you might have celebrate with him that were special to you and will bring back fond memories. 1) Norm was with me when I came into the world some 40 years ago. Due to this fact my parents decided that they were going to give me his middle name. Timothy Norman Torricelli had a nice ring to it so it stuck. I have to admit though, that I thought my middle name was (FLAKE) for the first 18 years of my life. Some of you might be able to understand what I am talking about as this was Norm’s way of saying I care about you. 2) He taught me and my brothers how to catch fly balls at the driving range by hitting wedges to us. He use to laugh when he would blade one and yell look out!. That shows you how smart we all are but he sure enjoyed that very much. 3) He taught me how to operate a riding lawn more. I was so excited to learn and always wanted to operate it. I later found out that he could not what until I was old enough to take over the yard as they had about an acre of grass to cut over on Ridgeley Avenue and he was tired of doing himself. 4) He showed me how to play golf and how to act on a golf course. He would take me to hit balls and chip and putt. His last full day he was playing 18 with Joe B. and two guys from Iowa. He was being himself and kidding with these two gentlemen and he was hitting it off with them. After about 15 holes he asked one of the Iowans if they knew how much one of the flags weighed as he was holding it up. The man said no he had no idea how much one the flags weighed. Norm’s reply was “ if you would ever pick one up you would find out” The two really got a kick out of that and they had made plans on playing again. 5) Norm was my biggest fan during my baseball career. As many of you know he was a very good athlete in his own right and really enjoy the competition. He was there to see me strike-out for the first time. Saw me make my first error, and saw me get my first hit. It seemed that wherever I was he would show up. Whether it was Florida, Texas, California, it did not matter. I knew that he would show up. Many people can associate the fact that when you needed him or needed his support he would always be there for you. 6) My wife Mary and I decided to relocate to Arizona in 1991 in January. Norm was our first visitor. We had just rented an apartment and were not there more than two weeks when we got a call from Norm that he would like to come out and visit. We said sure and would love to have you. We hung up the phone and realized that we did not have a bed for him to sleep. We decided to go out and purchase one of those air mattresses and blow it up and figured that this would be fine. We blew the bed up and put it on a frame and put slats a crossed so that he did not have to sleep on the floor. The first time he went to sit on the bed he just sloped right through the slats and frame and was sitting on the floor with his legs straight up in the air. I had never seen him laugh that hard in my life and his facial expression was just priceless I was trying to help him get up. 7) He taught me oldest son Reece how to sing Take me out to the ballgame at age three. He did not even know his ABC’s but could recite every word of that song. 8) He was there the day I found out that I was going to be a father for the first time. We had gone out to play golf and we pulled into the drive way to find a sign that read. WELCOME HOME DADDY AND GREAT UNCLE NORM. I sat there in the car for a little while and just could not figure out what it all meant. After about 30 seconds I looked over at Norm and he says to me, “ Are you goofy, you are going to be a father, even I can get that”. It was so nice to be able to share that experience with him and I will always remember that. I could go on for hours remembering the moments we shared and the good times we had. I am sure that each and every one of us can recall something they shared with Norm and what it meant to them and I thank you for allowing me this chance to share with you some of mine. I would like to close by sharing with you a note my 8 year old son Reece wrote in his diary Saturday after we told him that Norm had passed away. It really shows us all the meaning of life and how it transcends generations and how sharing life with the ones you love

Probably most people think of golf or even basketball when they think of Norm. I will always think of the roses and tomato plants (too many tomato plants!). I see Nom planting and watering and your mother bent almost in half pulling weeds. I never knew how she did it! I will always associate the word family with the name Keefner. Your family is what "family" should mean. Take care and my best to all, Mary Ann

I want to extend my sympathy to the Keefner Family in Norm's passing. He was my Unlce Jack's best friend. They spent many happy times together. Myself and my family have always thought very highly of Norm. I'll never forget his kindness he gave me when I was 13 and my father died. He coahed me on a baseball team the following summer. He gave me rides to the games and looked after me. I will keep you all in my prayers. Best wishes,.

My mother Shirley McEvoy was in an auto accident years back. "Uncle Norman" as we called him, took roses to her out of his garden. He once told me speaking of my mother, "You know Judy, not all saints are in heaven." He was such a dear.

We both want to tell you how sorryu we are for your loss. Norman was the first person to take me under his wing and took me to the Gleason's for a fish fry and introduced me around. We attended Sangmon State together. Lost brothers together and always got along great. He was like a brother to me even though we didn't see each otehr that often. He was a great guy and will be missed by everyone who knew him. It still hasn't sunk in to me that he is gone. Don Yutzy told me that Norm seemed on the road to recovery - so I was shocked to hear that he passed away. Your family did a wonderful job on his rememberance. I want to thank you again for letting me be apart of it. Thanks again and God Bless, Mel and Bonnie Knotts

Here is the note my 8 year old son wrote in his diary. It was certainly touching and I wanted to share it with you as the ending of his eulogy. Dear Uncle Norm, I am sorry that you died. I miss you. I'm lonely without you and you were my favorite great uncle. Reece, mom, bryce, Joe, grandma and dad miss you. Your wallet is great to have in my possession. Your my best friend. I hope that you are enjoying your whole family. I hope that you have a great time. Thank you God for taking him to a wonderful place in heaven. I miss your wonderful bright smile. I hope that you have a better time in a place in the sky. I am going to take a picture of you and put it on a heart shaped piece of paper. I will write a long poem for you. I hope that you and my mom's mom become friends. From Reece

It has been a month now since Norm left this world to join with the others who went before him to a much better place. I know how please he would have been with the wonderful way he has been remembered by so many many people of all ages. He never knew how many lives he touch in his 72 years on this earth. He was a very private man in many of the things he did for others but as I am in the process of settling his estate I am constantly amazed by what I am finding out about him. I knew him quite well, not only as his sister but as a good friend especially the last 25 years or so. He was more than a brother to me in many ways. We shared many good times and laughs and some sad times and tears as well. I would be remiss if I failed to mention all the help the family extended as we prepared for his celebration of life. His sister, brother and their spouses and 20 of his 22 neices and nephews where in attendance and contributed in whatever way they could. So many friends and associates attended the services, sent food and drink, and memorials of many kinds. Know that it is very much appreciated by not only the family but also by St. Joseph Grade School. Norm and all the Keefners (and Torricellis') recieved a strong foundation for life from that little institution and were pleased to give something back for the next generations to enjoy. Again Thanks a Million to all of you for whatever you contributed to Norms final celebration.

It's hard to believe Norm is gone. I miss seeing him in church on Sundays, either giving me a hug, or a line of bull, after Mass. My 3 sons delivered his newspapers, with my help of course, for years. They were all "Norm fans" and were shocked and saddened to hear of his death, as well. The world has lost a true gentleman, and heaven has gained an Angel. I will never forget Norm, he holds a special place in my heart. Pat

The other day my son and I were out hitting golf balls. Reece, my son, said he remembered the time Norm took him out and hit balls for the first time. He recalls it with a smile on his face. It proves the point that the experiences you have while you are here have a lasting effect on the people you shared them with. I should do miss my friend.

Somethings that stayed the same in 2004 - F-Troop (including 4 of Norm's nieces) at the Brooklyn and Lazy's; Christmas night at the usual place; plenty of food, commotion, and memories. A lot of first for 2004 - new houses, new great niece and nephew, engagements; shortage of beer at Keefner christmas; no pinwheels; and unfortunately, no Uncle Norm getting all the kids screaming! I guess we now know who was really in charge or to blame. We are sure Christmas, just like so many other things, can't be the same - We all sure missed Uncle Norm and just not because of the lack of beer and pinwheels.

Another holiday went by (Thanksgiving 2006)and we still miss Uncle Norm. I think we found his hearing aid in one of his couches though. How could he have forgotten to take it to heaven? Dad, Uncle Norm, Uncle Bill and Uncle Fr. Jim must be getting tired of having to repeat themselves all the time. Wait a minute....none of them could hear a lick anyway. Must be a pretty one sided conversation between all of them.

There is not a week that goes by that I do not have someone mention they knew you. As I look out the window and see that golf season is around the corner, it makes the memories we shared just that more special. I will always have fond memories and not a day goes by that I do not think of you in some way.

OBITUARY

Norman Keefner

March 31, 1931 – January 17, 2004

Butler Funeral Home & Cremation Tribute Center-Springfield

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