The man was a catch

Elia Powers

John T. Keeler had a reputation for being generous and gregarious.

Corona del Mar neighbors would often drop by his house or drive to

his Balboa Island gas station to get advice or to borrow money, said

Carolyn Keeler, John Keeler’s daughter.

“To this day, I’m sure he’s owed a lot of money,” Carolyn Keeler

said. “That’s the kind of person he was -- very friendly and

compassionate and open with people.”

John Keeler was born in Garden Grove and grew up in Santa Ana.

During World War II, he joined the Army Air Corps and helped develop

curriculum for an officer-training program.

He volunteered for navigation training and eventually became a

B-29 navigator. After the war, John Keeler stayed on as a reservist

and became a lieutenant colonel in what became the Air Force.

“He was always studying navigation and staying up on his friends

in the service,” Carolyn Keeler said.

Shortly after returning from the war, John Keeler bought a Union

76 gas station on Balboa Island with friend and Newport Beach

resident Matt Cox.

John Keeler lived in Corona del Mar, and in 1948, he built one of

the first houses in the 200 block of Jasmine Avenue, where he lived

until 1993.

John Keeler was married and had three children. The family became

a mainstay in the community.

“There were so few people in Newport Beach then, everyone knew

each other,” Carolyn Keeler said. “People would come in to the gas

station and tell my dad stories. He loved to listen.”

In 1953, John Keeler opened another gas station on Bristol Street

in Costa Mesa. Carolyn Keeler said she wove orange and blue ribbons

in her hair to celebrate the opening of that station.

After selling the gas stations, John Keeler worked in a family

business, M.L. Keeler & Son.

He retired in 1973 but remained involved in the community. He was

president of the local Rotary Club and helped out with his son’s Boy

Scout troop.

John Keeler enjoyed the outdoors. He climbed Mt. Whitney twice,

once at 15 and once at 65, his daughter said.

But his true love was fly-fishing. John Keeler couldn’t convince

his two sons to travel with him on trips, but Carolyn Keeler -- the

youngest of the three -- said she was always excited to go. The two

donned fishing hats and vests and walked into the water until their

bodies were nearly submerged.

Carolyn Keeler, who now lives in Boise, Idaho, still remembers one

of her first trips to Idaho with her father when she was 5 years old.

“I got so excited when my dad caught something that I fell into

the stream,” she said. “He had to choose between the fish and me.”

The two took trips together every year. John Keeler went on one of

his last fishing trips at age 90. He died May 10; he was 93.

Carolyn Keeler, who is looking to compile stories about her

father, said one stays fresh in her mind.

“Three years ago, we were sitting on the side of the river, and

out of the blue he said, ‘I liked all of your husbands.’” She’d had

three. He continued, “‘They were all fine men,’” Carolyn said. “He

never judged me. He always accepted my decisions and had faith in

what I could do.”

* THE GOOD OLD DAYS runs Sundays. Do you know of a person, place

or event that deserves a look back? Let us know. Contact us by fax at

(714) 966-4679; by e-mail at dailypilot@latimes.com; or by mail at

Daily Pilot, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.