Keith Everett Earley

Keith Everett Earley passed away October 17, 2020, at home in Portland, Oregon, his family at his side. He was 88 years old.

Born in Carthage, Missouri, December 17, 1931, to parents Frank and Virginia Earley, Keith developed many of his lifelong passions early, especially his interests and abilities in fixing things and fishing. He spent his childhood in Missouri and his adolescence in Southwest Oregon, but his travels began in earnest at seventeen years old when he and his friend decided to check out the military recruiters in town. He said of that fateful day that they had intended to join the Navy but that branch was at capacity when they arrived. The office across the hall from the Navy recruiter housed a representative from a relatively new branch of the service, the Air Force, and so began a twenty year career in the military.

Keith's mechanical and analytical aptitude qualified him to work in radios and electronics, but this proved merely preparation for the vocation he would pursue the rest of his working life, both in the Air Force and after his military retirement: computer field engineering and technology.

Keith met his wife, Laurie, while stationed at McChord AFB in Tacoma, Washington. They have been married for almost 63 years and raised three children, Steve Earley, Deb (Earley) Drandoff, and Jim Earley.

Air Force life took Keith, and usually his family, too, to many places. He served overseas twice, in the Philippines and, during the Vietnam War, in Thailand. Keith became an eager student of computer technology servicing, and he attended training schools almost too numerous to count. He also completed Air Force assignments in the Pentagon and at NORAD's facility at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.

As Keith rose in rank, eventually to E7, he found himself pulled away from the thing he felt he was best at-maintaining and fixing computers to run at their best. So Keith retired in 1970 to pursue computer field engineering in the private sector. He was fond of saying he left the Air Force on Friday and went to work at Telex on Monday.

In 1972, Keith took a job as a computer field engineer at what was then called Storage Technology Corporation, later called StorageTek. Son Steve left for a career in the Air Force himself, and Keith, Laurie, Deb, and Jim relocated to Tacoma, Washington.

Throughout Keith's adult life, he developed a keen and at times fervid love of sports. Always competitive in everything he played, be it pinochle, horseshoes, bowling, or one of his specialties, hearts, Keith channeled that love of competition into his devotion for his local sports teams. While in Tacoma, he became a founding fan of two new sports franchises, the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners broke Keith's heart to the very end, and sadly, this is the first year his family will not be able to hear him say, "We'll get 'em next year." But one of the great joys of his life was seeing the Seahawks win the Super Bowl. In fact, until his ashes are placed at the Willamette National Cemetery in November, they will sit on the mantle next to his good luck Russell Wilson doll, thus promoting continued Seahawks success this season.

Keith's twilight years became years of Christian faith and devotion. He was active in churches he attended and also in Christian charities, especially the Christian Aid Society. His faith sustained him to the very end.

After his second retirement, Keith and Laurie lived in many places in the northwest, including Lacey, Washington, Milton-Freewater, Oregon, College Place, Washington, Walla Walla, Washington, Gresham, Oregon, and finally, Portland.

Keith was preceded in death by his parents Frank and Virginia and his sister, Virginia (Gina). He is remembered and loved by his surviving siblings Sharon, Ken, and Joe, his loving wife, Laurie, his son Steve and Steve's wife Amy, his daughter Deb and her husband Richard Drandoff, his son Jim, many grandchildren and great grandchildren, and many friends.