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Dr. Kenan ‘just a sweetheart’
• The longtime Tucson physician died Friday at 88. A memorial service is set for Saturday.
A memorial service will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. for Dr. Frederick M. Kenan, a longtime local physician who died Friday of complications after several surgeries.
He was 88.
The service will be at Far Horizon’s East’s main clubhouse, 7570 E. Speedway Blvd. The Rev. Steven Melde will officiate.
There will be no funeral service. Dr. Kenan’s body will be donated to the University of Arizona Medical School.
His wife, June, said she wasn’t surprised. ”Typical doctor,” she said. ”This is what he always wanted.”
Ever the organized person, Dr. Kenan, father of Tucson Citizen librarian Charlotte Kenan, also wrote much of this obituary himself.
His wife said Dr. Kenan was ”just a sweetheart. He was like a Pied Piper. Every kid, every animal followed him everywhere. We have grandkids who aren’t even ours,” she said, citing one little neighbor girl who was devastated by her ”Grandpa Fred’s” death.
Dr. Kenan was born in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, Feb. 7, 1911. He graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, in 1933 and from Thomas Jefferson University Medical School in Philadelphia in 1937.
At Wittenberg, Dr. Kenan was a member of Beta Theta Pi social fraternity and was chapter president in 1932. He also was elected to Blue Key Honorary. At Jefferson, he was a member of Alpha Kappa Kappa medical fraternity.
Dr. Kenan interned at Cleveland City Hospital in 1937 and 1938 and then did general practice and obstetrics in Upper Sandusky until 1957, when asthma caused him to move with his family to Tucson.
In September 1957, he accepted a position of school doctor and director of the district health department at School District No. 1, now called Tucson Unified School District. He held that position until he retired in 1976.
During the summers in the 1960s, Dr. Kenan was employed at the Magma Copper Hospital in San Manuel.
Since 1976, Dr. Kenan maintained a life insurance examination business, in recent years working almost exclusively with ASB Meditest and Mediquik. He retired in 1995 at age 84.
He had been a member of the Warpole Lodge No. 176 F.& A.M. Fraternal Order of Masons, Upper Sandusky, for 65 years, being raised July 4, 1932. He also was a former member of the local B.P.O. Elks Lodge No. 385.
Since 1957, he had been a member of Christ Presbyterian Church, 6565 E. Broadway, serving in many capacities, including on the building committee for the sanctuary in 1970.
In addition to his wife, June, and daughter Charlotte, Dr. Kenan is survived by daughter Kathleen of Tucson and sons Thomas B. of Tucson and John R. (Jack) of El Cajon, Calif.
He also is survived by his first wife, Janis B. of Tucson; three grandchildren, John R. Kenan Jr., Tanya Ferrell and Bevin Kenan; three stepchildren, Edwin A. Madson of South Carolina, Debra J. Madson of Tucson and Candis Strysko of Virginia Beach, Va.; three stepgrandchildren, Amanda, Shiloh and Joshua Monka; and one great-grandson Connor Ferrell.
Memorials in Dr. Kenan’s name may be made to Christ Presbyterian Church, Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Community Food Bank or the Beacon Foundation.
(Dated May 25, 1999)
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Boyd Baker killed in N.M. rollover
• The longtime sports figure here was on his way home from the NCAA Softball College World Series.
Boyd Baker, a fixture at University of Arizona football and basketball games and a longtime commissioner of high school officials in southern Arizona, was killed in an automobile accident yesterday on a two-lane road in southeastern New Mexico. Mr. Baker was 60.
Mr. Baker and his wife, Margaret, athletic director at Palo Verde High School, were returning from the NCAA Softball College World Series in Oklahoma City when the accident occurred on U.S. 770. Margaret Baker suffered minor injuries.
Mr. Baker, who was not wearing his seat belt, was ejected from the car, according to the New Mexico State Police.
Margaret Baker, who was driving, swerved out of the westbound lane and into the eastbound lane. A driver in a car traveling in the eastbound lane, Leonard Watkins of Clovis, N.M., took evasive action and moved into the westbound lane, according to the police report.
Baker then returned to the westbound lane and collided with the right rear side of Watkins’ car, which sent her car rolling. Police said the Bakers’ car flipped twice.
Watkins and a passenger in his car, Kimberly Watkins, were listed in stable condition at a Clovis hospital.
Mr. Baker worked at the scorer’s table at UA basketball games the past two years and with television crews at UA football games for more than 15 years.
He retired last year as director of officiating for southern Arizona. He was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
(Dated Jun 01, 1999)
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Friends call Baker gentle sports hero
• His life was marked by friendliness, hard work and a love for competition, they say.
They stood around for several minutes before and after the memorial service, each telling their own Boyd Baker story or reminiscing of days past.
Coaches, educators, administrators, officials, students and former students gathered at McKale Center yesterday to pay their final respect to Baker, killed in an automobile accident in New Mexico last week.
Baker and his wife, Peggy, were returning to Tucson from the NCAA Softball College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Baker, who was not wearing his seat belt, was ejected from his automobile after it flipped twice. He was 60.
An estimated crowd of 2,300 attended the 2 1/2-hour hour service held beneath the banners hanging over the McKale Center floor.
”Whatever time you spent with Boyd, you came away feeling good about him and yourself,” said Bill Baker, a brother, who spoke on behalf of the family.
Bill Baker spoke about how athletic and mischievous his brother was growing up in the state of Washington.
Dick Bartsch, an associate athlete director at University of Arizona, recalled some of the times he spent with Baker. Their relationship spanned more than 30 years.
Bartsch met Baker in 1969 when they were at the University of Oregon.
”Boyd was easy to like. His actions earned our respect,” Bartsch said. ”I’ve never met a man who didn’t like him. I don’t think he ever met someone he didn’t like.”
Baker was an associate professor and head of the Physical Education Department at UA until his retirement in July 1998. He also served many years as commissioner for high school officials.
”Boyd was the consummate professional. He didn’t compromise his principles. He instilled in all of us that was associated with him. We’re all better people knowing him,” Bartsch said.
”It didn’t matter who you were or what you were . . . black, brown, white, old, male or female, if you met Boyd Baker, you were his friend,” said John Goodwin, a close friend.
In his many years as an educator, Baker taught to the very end of his life.
”Unfortunately, Boyd’s passing taught us a lesson,” Goodwin said. ”Hopefully, everyone in this room will never get in a car without wearing your seat belt.”
Said Bartsch: ”He leaves behind a legacy. We’re all blessed for knowing him.”
(Dated Jun 08, 1999)
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Gen. Keith helped save D-M
Retired Brig. Gen. Larry R. Keith, who led a campaign to spare Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from closure, has died after a seven-week battle with brain cancer.
His death here Tuesday came one day after his 64th birthday.
Gen. Keith became a consultant to the city after ending a 35-year Air Force career in 1988, when he retired as commander of D-M’s 836th Air Division.
”He was a guy who told us how to do it, how to get it done,” said Kendall Bert, the city’s economic development director. ”He guided us since 1990, and I don’t know if anyone will ever fully understand this.
”He kept us out of trouble. God, he was good.”
In 1994, Gen. Keith lobbied lawmakers to support a $42 million proposal to extend D-M’s runway and build a parallel runway away from residential areas.
He said the plan would ease encroachment problems and keep D-M off the list of federal base closings in 1995.
The base was spared, but the Air Force canceled the project in 1997, saying it was too costly.
Bert first met the retired general at a meeting on how to avert the base’s closure, at which Gen. Keith spoke.
”The room was so full I couldn’t get in. I was sitting outside, listening to the conversations,” Bert said. ”Then I heard this deep, distinctive voice. I got up out of my chair to see who was talking.
”You could tell this is a guy who could make a difference. As it turned out, that’s exactly what he did.”
Gen. Keith lacked traits ”we assume a general is supposed to have,” a 1988 Citizen article said: ”a gruff demeanor, an abrupt manner, an overbearing personality and a cold, detached attitude.
”Instead, he is armed with a quick mind, a firm handshake and an easy smile.”
Gen. Keith worked closely with the D-M 50, a support group made up local businessmen and professionals.
”Larry was . . . devoted to Tucson, to the country,” said Tucson attorney Sally Simmons, head of the D-M 50. ”And he was an invaluable person and adviser in all things that touched on the military in our community.
”He was a man of absolute integrity. We’re going to miss his wisdom.”
Gen. Keith was born June 21, 1935, at Peoria, Ill., where he graduated from Peoria’s Manual Training High School. He enlisted in the Air Force as an airman assigned to the 169th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Illinois Air National Guard in Peoria.
In 1954, he entered the Aviation Cadet Program at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. After graduation, he earned his pilot’s wings at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz.
He graduated from gunnery school at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., in 1956 and returned to the Illinois National Guard unit as a fighter pilot.
He entered the active Air Force in 1961, remaining with the 169th until June the following year, when he was assigned to the standardization and evaluation staff of the 559th Tactical Fighter Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
There, he flew F-84 Thunderjets and F-4 Phantoms. In 1965, he transferred to the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, serving as ”A” Flight commander.
When the unit was moved to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in 1966, he went with it – flying 108 combat missions over North Vietnam and destroying a MiG-17 fighter.
He earned a bachelor of science degree at the University of Tampa in 1970 and completed his master of science degree in political science at Auburn University in 1972.
After the Vietnam conflict, he was assigned to MacDill once again, and then to Langley Air Force Base, Va.
He later served at George Air Force Base, Calif.; a second tour at Udorn; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Headquarters U.S. Air Force at Washington, D.C.; Zaragoza Air Base in Spain; Ramstein Air Base in West Germany; Bitburg Air Base, West Germany; and with NATO forces in Rheindahlen, West Germany.
Gen. Keith was transferred to D-M in June 1987 and retired the following year.
”He retired before he had to, to spend time with the family,” said his wife, Jacqueline, whom he married in May 1958. ”He loved Tucson, the people, the climate, and had all kinds of contacts here.”
He also is survived by his daughters, Brenda Wallace of Seattle and Lisa Keith, Tara Keith and Kendra McGarey, all of Phoenix; and two grandchildren.
”It was a very, very fulfilling life, extremely so for our children,” Jacqueline Keith said. ”We were really blessed. I just wish we could have had more time together.”
(Dated Jun 24, 1999)
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