Dewey Roscoe Keck, Jr.

Another bright light was extinguished Wednesday, December 9, 2020, with the passing of Dewey Roscoe Keck, Jr. of Delaware, Indiana. Dewey was born on October 31, 1930 to the late Velma (Dole) and Dewey S. Keck, Sr. He and his late brother Eugene grew up in Delaware. He loved to tell stories about his childhood.

By age 10, he had his first job. This set a precedent for his life; he was one of the hardest-working people you’d ever meet. He graduated from Napoleon High School in 1949. He was proud to be a Bearcat and some of his school memorabilia is in the Napoleon Community Center – look for the H2O sweater.

After graduation he joined the Air Force. He served during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 when he was honorably discharged.

At the end of 1953, he met the woman he’d marry, Della Allen, at the wedding of her aunt and his best friend. Dewey was enamored with Della and after knowing each other for less than 6 months, they were wed on June 12, 1954 in Delaware. They were married for 62 years until Della’s passing in 2016. When Della required skilled nursing care, Dewey faithfully visited her every day.

Dewey and Della lived for several years in the Cincinnati area before moving back to Delaware. During this time Dewey had various jobs. He once worked at Swallens so he could get the discount on appliances for the house being built in Delaware. Anyone who knew him knows he could be frugal.

He also worked at Fernald, Chris Volz Motors and Thatcher Glass (now Anchor Glass) and ran the Thatcher Glass employee credit union. It was this position that he devoted countless hours to, bringing home work on evenings and weekends. He enjoyed the interaction with the Thatcher/Anchor Glass employees. Dewey retired from the credit union in 1993.

After retirement, he took on some new roles. He was the treasurer of the Aurora Moose for several years. He drove the Veterans’ medical van, taking veterans to and from the Cincinnati and Indianapolis Veterans’ Hospital and transporting them to various medical appointments.

Dewey was a longtime member of the Delaware United Methodist Church. He was a Lay Speaker and helped on the financial committees. He loved working in the church’s food trailer at the Pumpkin Show back in the day. He always found a way to sneak in supplies when the church’s inventory was running low and he somehow always managed to lose the receipt.

Dewey was a founding member of both Rescue 69 and the Delaware Volunteer Fire Department, helping them get established and operating successfully. He was known for his reluctance to throw anything away so you can still find his fire boots in a locker in his garage.

He was a 50-year member of the Hoffner Masonic Lodge in Northside (Cincinnati). He was a member of the Osgood American Legion Post 267. He loved to go to auctions. Most of his finds were the $1.00 boxes that no one else would buy. He couldn’t pass up a “bargain”. He was a voracious reader of many newspapers. Family and friends would bring him newspapers from all over the U.S. and he read them all. If questioned, he could even tell you which section contained the information you were asking about.

While Dewey’s family was small in number, the love among them was great. Dewey and Della’s son, Steven, passed away in 2012. He will forever be missed by his daughter, Kathleen Dickman. Dewey was Kathy’s best friend, hero, life advisor and role model. He will also be missed by his 4 grandchildren: Gina Keck of Wisconsin; Tyler Dickman (Kirstyn Ward), Derik Dickman (Claire Holt) and Jared Dickman, all of Osgood. Dewey absolutely loved being a great-grandpa to Dameon and Evelynn.

It’s impossible to describe how much Dewey meant to his family and friends. He was, and always will be, deeply loved and missed. We have the comfort of knowing he’s in Heaven and is now our Guardian Angel.