Thomas Keefer

Thomas Edward Keefer, loving husband, father, son, brother and pirate, died December 22nd after a vigorous battle with cancer. Born a good old Southern boy, raised a Gator fan and graduated a UCF Knight, he was dedicated to living the best, and happiest, life. He watched, and coached, every bit of soccer he could - from peewee to World Cup, men's to women's, local to global. Tom had just enough fan devotion left to spend on the Baltimore Orioles; which included amassing a substantial Oriole Memorial to rival the museum at Camden Yards. His sports knowledge rivaled ALL sports museums, as well.
But his first and truest love was reserved for the Florida Gators. It wasn't a Saturday in fall if Tom didn't make a big vat of Gator chili - at least enough to have for three days straight, afterwards. Gator football, Gator basketball, Gator baseball, even Gator tennis - Tom cheered for them all.
When he wasn't watching sports, he was still outside. He took care of the yard, focusing more on having the greenest grass in the neighborhood than keeping himself hydrated, much to his wife's chagrin. In between mowings, Tom would grill using sweet, sweet propane and propane accessories. While some came out burnt, it all came out delicious - including the grilled Christmas-Ice-Storm turkey. And you can't have grilled meat without the corresponding barbeque sauce, which he would recommend the perfect, complementary sauce before you even got a plate. Sonny's was suitable for all meals, of course.
His affinity for animals was only slightly influenced by his generosity of letting scraps fall to the floor for various rescue dogs. Tom's magic connection with animals started with a pet chicken named Cheep-Cheep and developed through jobs at Sea World and the San Antonio zoo. But he always maintained a psychic connection with the family pet mutts, again much to his wife's chagrin.
Tom was great with people as well; it was hard to not have at least a 10-minute conversation with him, even if you had just met. And if the topic was history, you expected an informative and unique discussion that lasted at least 30. But it was never depressing nor condescending; he treated everyone equally, and always managed to find the silver lining. And if he couldn't, or if you needed someone to rant at, he would let you, before suggesting the simplest and best solution.
And if Tom couldn't offer a solution, he would make you laugh instead. Whether it by showing you a video on the internet, or a random reference to a movie, or by his sheer wit alone - entering a conversation with him always ended in laughter. Which also meant you could never be mad at him for long either. By why would you want to stay mad at him, when you could put on any 80's new wave song and watch him dance instead? A Chubby Checker Twist champion, any floor was a dance floor with Tom in the room.
Thomas Edward Keefer was a lot of things to a lot of people, and the hole in the world he left will remain a shrine to the immeasurable amount of joy and love he gave to us. The only thing he wasn't, though, was orange-haired - he was a redhead, through and through!
In lieu of flowers, Tom wants donations to be made to the American Cancer Society or the San Antonio zoo.

An open house celebrating Tom's life will be held in the Orlando, Florida area on Saturday, January 21, 2017 and in the Atlanta, Georgia area on Saturday, February 18, 2017. For more info, please email kskeeferpe@gmail.com.