Gary Richard Keehner

Gary Richard Keehner, beloved husband, father and grandfather, went to his eternal rest in the Lord on July 9, 2025, surrounded by his loving family. Family was everything to Gary, especially his devoted wife, Irene, of 55 years, who after 10 years in the workforce stayed home to raise their wonderful children, daughter Laura (husband Michael), and son Shane (wife Lisa). He was so proud that he was “Bapa” to his sweet grandchildren Harper (6), Mary Elizabeth (4) and Charlie (4). He was the older brother to his sister Ann (husband Jeff) and uncle to his nephews Kyle and Sean, who both served in the U.S. military. He spent many holidays and celebrations with Irene’s large extended family in Los Angeles, including her nieces and nephews.

Gary was born in Longview, WA, to Evelyn Beulah Boehl and George Walter Keehner. He enjoyed watching hydroplane boat races and fishing for salmon with his father and also took on his father’s love of football. He learned his strong work ethic during summers building houses by hand and working at Longview Fibre.

He graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Zoology and remained an active member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. Gary then earned a second bachelor’s degree in chemistry from San Jose State University. In the early 60’s he worked at Dow Chemical and Memorex Corporation, but spent 42 years at Hewlett Packard Co. (HP) as a very successful Regional Sales Manager of analytical instrumentation. During his career with HP, he led their drug testing for the 1984 Olympics, visited Los Alamos, and was on the sponsorship committee for A3 women’s crew at the America’s Cup.

His parents showed him the value of giving back, as they were devoted to their Longview Community Church for over 40 years, where his Mother taught Sunday school and his father was the head usher. Gary was a loyal usher for 20 years at the Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, and while living in Los Angeles, he and Irene were active members of St. Matthew’s Parish Church, where their children attended school.

He was quite active in sports, including tennis and basketball, running 5k’s and 10k’s, especially before the annual 4th of July Parades in Pacific Palisades. He was quite gifted at tennis, winning the University of Washington Intramural Tennis Championship in the 1960’s, and later in life was a long-time member of the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club where he watched world class tennis tournaments and enjoyed the beach and barbeques with his family.

He was also active in the Elks Lodge, the Professional Men’s Society of La Jolla, USC San Diego Trojan Club (after 30 years of football season tickets, FIGHT ON!), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and volunteering his time helping rowers at the San Diego Crew Classic and runners at the Rock and Roll Marathon.

He will be remembered for his humor, strong work ethic, storytelling, scientific acumen, and love of family and the Lord. Even in his final days he ensured we knew the difference between precision and accuracy!

Although he and Irene were world travelers, his favorite place on earth was Maui (No Ka Oi) but the most important thing to him was Ohana (family in Hawaiian). He left it all out on the field and made sure his heath challenges did not get the better of him. He was the strongest person we knew, his heart leading the way. He was beloved by his family, many friends and loved life until the end.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8