Necrology

John Montgomery Keeler '55

Jul. 5, 1933-Mar. 31, 2022

John Montgomery Keeler ’55 died on March 31, 2022, in Binghamton, N.Y., where he was born on July 5, 1933. A graduate of Binghamton Central High School, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and majored in philosophy. He sang tenor in the College Choir all four years and was its assistant manager as a senior. He joined the Buffers in his junior and senior years. 

John played on the baseball team during his first two years and as a sophomore began two years of service on the newly formed Student Admissions Committee. In his junior year, he joined the Chapel Board, remaining on it until he graduated. He became a member of Nous Onze as a senior.

Graduating with honors in his major, John initially worked for Glens Falls Insurance Co. After one year, he discovered that his true vocation was the law. In a letter to Dean Winton Tolles dated June 5, 1956, he gave three reasons for this choice of career: “the brush with the law that comes with insurance, the desire to be in a profession, and a genuine quest for graduate training are some of the factors that prompted this decision.” It should be noted the law was a family profession: his father, C. Addison Keeler, Class of 1920, P’52,’55, and his brother C. Addison Keeler, Jr. ’52 were both attorneys.

Military service came first, however, and John was inducted into the U.S. Army in September 1956. On Nov. 5 of that year, he married Jacqueline Ann Covert, whom he met during his time in insurance. They had two sons and a daughter.

Honorably discharged from the Army with the rank of corporal, John began his legal studies at Cornell University Law School in the fall of 1958. He did well and in his second year was chosen to be associate editor of The Cornell Law Quarterly.

LLB in hand and admitted to the New York Bar in 1961, John joined the firm of Hinman, Howard & Kittell in Binghamton, where his father and brother were both partners. It would be his professional home for his entire legal career. He specialized in civil litigation, became a partner in 1969, and rose in 1982 to managing partner, a position he held until his retirement in 2001, when he became “of counsel” to the firm.

Following the end of his first marriage, on July 28, 1978, John married Marcella McPherson, whose daughter by a previous marriage increased the number of Keeler family children to four.

Throughout his career and well into retirement, John was active in his community. He served as president of the Broome County Bar Association and held the same office for United Way of Broome County for three terms. Among the organizations on whose boards he sat were the Stewart W. and William C. Hoyt Foundation, the Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation, the YMCA Foundation, the Binghamton University Foundation, WSKG Public Broadcasting, the Southern Tier Zoological Society, and the Cider Mill Playhouse. He also chaired the Binghamton University Harpur Forum and was a director of NYSEG/Energy East and the Security Mutual Life Insurance Co.

John played volleyball at the YMCA, bowled at the Binghamton Club, and played bridge with Binghamton University Women. He was a member of the West Side Stovelifters, a service club; the Livewires of the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce; and the 21 Club, the members of which were reportedly among the “elite of Binghamton.”

As an alumnus of John Baldwin’s choir on the Hill, he continued to sing both in community and church choirs. At Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church, he not only sang, but was at different times a warden, vestry member, worship leader, and member or chair of numerous committees.

In his 40th reunion yearbook, John came straight to the point about Hamilton’s influence upon his life: “I learned how to write, speak, and think.” He elaborated in his 50th reunion yearbook: “Four years of public speaking was a godsend for me. I hated to get up in front of people when I started at Hamilton. I have used that discipline in my professional and volunteer work for years since graduation. … I believe that I obtained writing skills at Hamilton that served me well at the Cornell Law School and thereafter in my practice.” 

John honored the College’s choir director in this same entry: “I have to say that the musical influence of John Baldwin has had a profound impact on me. Singing in choirs and choruses has been a marvelous diversion over the years.” An enduring memory was of the occasion when the choir performed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

Given his notable commitment to public service, it is not surprising that John also supported the College. He was the Binghamton regional vice chairman for the Hamilton Fund, on his class’s 30th reunion gift committee, chaired his class’s 50th reunion committee, and served on the Alumni Council. John also donated to the Eugene F. Tobin Professorship and the John Baldwin Fund.

Predeceased by his father, C. Addison Keeler, Sr., Class of 1920, P’52,’55, and his brother, C. Addison Keeler, Jr. ’52, John M. Keeler is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, a stepdaughter, and three grandsons.

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