Electronics Engineer Gets a Charge Out of New Job

Larry Keith, 53, figures by year’s end he will run out of money.

The one-time electronics engineer who worked 18 years at a Rockwell International division in Santa Ana before his job was eliminated in April, 1988, then decided he would take on a new unpaid occupation.

He became a professional volunteer.

Or more accurately, Keith said he went to work for God.

Most of his activities these days consist primarily of calling on shut-ins and helping the homeless, as well as serving as chairman of the Anaheim United Methodist Church multifaceted ministry.

“Some people think I have gone off the deep end,” said the University of Michigan graduate with degrees in both electronics engineering and mathematics. “I don’t understand it all myself.”

And neither do his six grown children.

Lou-Anne Keith, his wife and a registered nurse who is in the master’s program in theology and parish nursing at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, stands by his new mission in life.

“She was very anxious at the beginning,” admits the Anaheim man.

Before deciding his new course, Keith had sent out 200 resumes to prospective employers but did not receive a single reply.

“A lot of people looked at that as a crisis, but I looked at it as a great opportunity,” he said. “Actually, this had been kind of on my mind the last few months of working. I was thinking maybe I should be doing something other than what I was doing.”

Keith said his new volunteer role is based on a desire to serve God, a notion that actually started in 1975 when he became a Christian.

But while he feels comfortable even without a job, he warns that his change might not work for others who think the same way, especially those with little savings.

“Right now we’re drawing on our savings and at the current rate of spending, we figure it will last until the end of this year barring any unforeseen emergencies,” he said.

To prepare themselves, the Keiths began living a more austere life, giving up buying clothes and repairing rather than buying new appliances or cars.

“It is a personal thing, not a formula for everyone and not something God is going to convey verbally,” he said. “I spent a lot of time reading the Bible. What is going through me is unique. Other people have to look at their own relationship with God.”

And despite his desire to serve God, he is not ready to spend his time preaching to others, although he is willing to talk to anyone about their own relationship with God and their lives.

Keith said he believes strongly he someday will know why he is doing what he is doing.

“This is going to sound funny and crazy and may be irresponsible, but I don’t know what I’ll be doing in the future,” he declared. “I feel caught up in what I am doing, and my concern is my day-to-day activities, not six months from now.”

As a matter of fact, Keith believes his life will straighten itself out, pointing out that his eyes are not closed to opportunities that might develop.

“When you turn yourself over to God, you don’t worry about that,” he continued. “The future is based on trust. Right now I’m doing what (God) wants me to do.”