By:Nicole Falco
Though unable to attend the reunion dinner at The Sands in Atlantic Beach, Keller participated in a tour of the school earlier that day.
Keller, 80, died last Sunday from complications of a stroke he suffered in May. He had been staying at Franklin Hospital Medical Center-s Orzac Extended Care Facility since the stroke.
I knew how much it meant to him, Kathleen said of the reunion. That-s why it was going to happen no matter what it took. He was in his glory.
For weeks he lived on that, Kathleen said. In Orzac, they made a big deal about it. They put up [the newspaper article] on the bulletin board. The nurses said they felt like they had a celebrity there. For weeks after that he glowed every time it was mentioned.
Keller was born and raised in Valley Stream. He attended the Wheeler Avenue School and, later, Central, when it opened in 1929. He earned a degree in English and speech from Southwestern College in Kansas and a master-s in speech from NYU.
At Southwestern, he roomed with Raymond Broadie, who kept a picture of his younger sister, Peg, on his dresser. He fell in love with that picture, Kathleen said of her father. And soon he fell in love with Peg. After college graduation, Keller applied for teaching positions in Kansas. Had he not received a telegram from Central High School alerting him that there was an opening at the school, Keller might never have returned. But he got the job at Central. Two years later, he and Peg were married, and she moved from Kansas to live with him in Valley Stream. The couple raised two children, Richard and Kathleen.
Among his many accomplishments at Central, Keller originated and served as Central-s Drama Club director for 15 years, producing more than 50 sell-out plays and musicals. In 1942, he started the Central Talent Troupe, a showcase for student talent. When his nephew, Bill Broadie, lost his leg in Vietnam in 1967, Keller and Peg visited him every weekend at a Naval hospital in Philadelphia for the six months he was there. Keller arranged for the Talent Troupe to make occasional trips to Philadelphia to entertain the wounded veterans there. He also started the school newspaper, the Central Crier, in 1940.
He was always a gracious man with a never-ending commitment to Central, said Principal Joseph Pompilio, who noted that Keller was one of the first people he called when he became principal in September 2001. He was a man who embodied Central-s school slogan: Strength and Honor.
Perhaps Keller-s most enduring accomplishment at the school is the Central High School Alumni Association, now known as the Central High School Alumni Association Scholarship Foundation Inc. As an advisor to the class of 1941, he worked with that class to organize the association, which sponsors reunions and awards annual scholarships to graduating seniors. Keller remained active in the organization until his stroke. He served as president from 1998 to 2000.
Joan Muller, current CHSAASF president, said, Ever since being in his drama class more 50 years ago, then continuing to be under his guidance throughout the inception of our alumni association and up to its present successful accomplishments, I have admired his trust, enthusiasm and his gracious praise for any job well done.
Muller is one of countless alumni and staff who hold Keller in high regard. Besides the school auditorium, Keller-s name also graces a dressing room in the newly refurbished Selwyn Theater in Manhattan-s Times Square. A former student, James O-Rorke, of the class of 1954, donated $15,000 in 2000 to have the dressing room named in Keller-s honor. He hadn-t seen his former teacher in 34 years.
On another occasion, the class of 1949-s Bruce Chandler celebrated his 60th birthday with a posh, black-tie party in Manhattan. Chandler asked Keller to share in his special day, and even sent a limousine to pick him up. He wanted Dad to be there, because he said he never would have been who he was without Dad-s influence, Kathleen said.
Another alumni, Samuel Zurich, of the class of 1941, asked Keller to be his best man when he married Eileen Kemmler, also of the class of 1941, in 1947.
Ray Cipherde, of the class of 1953, credits Keller with encouraging him to become a writer. Cipherde and a classmate, Richard DeBenedictis, wrote an original musical, Holiday Hotel, and Keller gave them the chance to produce the show at school. Cipherde later became one of the four original Sesame Street writers, and DeBenedictis is a Hollywood composer, having scored television shows including Perry Mason and Columbo.
He was my mentor, Cipherde said in a telephone interview. There have been many wonderful people along the way, but he was the one who really started me on that path. The strength and enthusiasm he had really carried me through the ups and downs.
Beyond the school community, Keller was active in many civic groups and in his church, Grace United Methodist. He was active in the Valley Stream Rotary for more than three decades, and was a past president. He was named a Paul Harris Fellow, the club-s highest honor.
He was one of those people that just gave, said fellow Rotarian Bob Thornton, North High-s administrative associate.
At Grace, Keller served as lay leader for 25 years, from 1942 to 1967. He served on the church Board of Trustees for 50 years and taught Sunday school for 50 years. According to the Rev. John H. Cole, Grace-s pastor, Keller would say that hot cocoa and cookies were his secret to success with the senior-high students he taught at Sunday school. As recently as last Christmas, Keller was at the church piano, leading the congregation in a rendition of White Christmas. And Cole credits Keller with writing much of the church-s history that appears in its 100th anniversary journal.
A Grace congregant, Richard Keidel, who also had Keller as a teacher, said, He just had a wonderful, outgoing personality. He was not haughty. He was someone you could talk with easily, and he was able to relate to his students.
Keller was an active member of the Valley Stream Historical Society, and a past president. He served as chairman of the village-s 50th anniversary celebration in 1975, and was chairman of the Valley Stream Museum Committee, which raised money to restore the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration, on Hendrickson Avenue, to its original state. Keller may have been so interested in history because his family is a part of Valley Stream-s history. Keller Street is named for his grandfather, Henry, a 19th-century farmer.
He was always available, said Marge Chvatal, a member of the historical society and the alumni association. Chvatal recalled how Keller would dress as George Washington every year for the historical society-s Presidents Day celebration.
Keller served on the Advisory Council of the Salvation Army Wayside Home School for Girls, which closed last year. He was a past trustee of the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library Board, and he and Peg delivered meals to homebound seniors through Meals On Wheels. He was always willing to help any person, Peg said.
Anyone at any time, Kathleen added.
Besides his wife, who still lives in Valley Stream, and his daughter, who lives in Miami, Keller is survived by a son, Richard, and his wife, Karen, of Emporia, Kan.; two grandsons Russell and his wife, Annie, of Chicago, and Matthew and his wife, Laura, of Sacramento, Calif. two great-grandsons, Benjamin and Andrew, of Chicago; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Keller was waked at the Moore Funeral Home Nov. 16 and 17. His funeral service was scheduled for Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. at Grace. Following the services, the funeral procession planned to stop at Central so that the family could place a wreath on the auditorium door.
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to either Grace United Methodist Church, 21 S. Franklin Ave., Valley Stream, NY 11580, or VSCHAASF Inc., P.O. Box 642, Valley Stream, NY 11582. Please provide the donor-s name and address so that acknowledgment can be given and note that the donation is being made in Keller-s memory.
Central-s open house for American Education Week has been rescheduled from Thursday, Nov. 18 to Tuesday, Nov. 30, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., so it would not conflict with Keller-s funeral.
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
