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On
behalf of the entire Keach family I would like to thank you all for
being with us today to mourn the death and to celebrate the wonderful
life of our Dad. We were blessed to have him with us for 88 year,
special years. Even though this past year was a struggle for him, as his
body began to shut down…his spirit rarely faltered, and he never lost
his sense of humor, and even though he had become blind in one eye, the
other one was always twinkling with a smile right up to the very
end…with some devilish one-liners: One day Dad was lying in bed
in the hospital, he had lost a considerable amount of weight and I know
he wasn’t feeling great…the nurse came in and said, “Mr. Keach,
you’re looking good”. “You better clean your glasses” was
his reply…
In the Foreword to his autobiography, Dad tells a funny story of how he
and Mom had purchased some vitamin pills to improve their memory.
They finished one bottle and threw it away and wanted to order a second,
but they couldn’t remember the name of the stuff!
But thank goodness, “memory” served Dad well for most of his
extraordinary life…very important for any actor…and yet, as we were
growing up, both Mom and Dad were reluctant to encourage either of their
two sons to join the business because of the insecurities and heartaches
which all of us who choose such a life must find a way to survive.
Dad
certainly found the way, but he wanted his two sons to become either
lawyers or doctors…something where we wouldn’t have to worry about
where our next job was coming. How many times, how many times in my
career have I said, ‘You know, maybe Dad was right.’
Dad’s
concern for financial security was born out of the fact that he was a
child of the Great Depression, an only child, no brothers or sisters,
and his own father passed away when he was only nine years old, and so
he had to help support his mother. He used to love to tell the
story of how he was working as a soda jerk in a local ice cream parlor
in Chicago and Al Capone used to come in and give him a big tip for
serving up a double-decker cone. He also tells the story of
hearing gunshots walking home from school on St. Valentine’s Day.
Dad was a great storyteller…so it was impossible for him to discourage
us from going into this business…impossible…. I remember coming home
from school one day and telling Dad that I had been cast as the Stage
Manager in Thornton Wilders’ “Our Town.” Dad’s face lit up
with a smile as big a Cheshire cat… He said, “That’s a great
part…I played that part in summer stock…it’s a great part…and
what a fantastic play…and you know the moment when he scoops the ice
cream for George and Emily…let me show how you do that moment…I
scooped ice cream for Al Capone, you know…you take the scooper, you
reach down in the cooler and scoop it out…and you know, the moment
when he’s describing the Big Butternut Tree… You’ve gotta see the
tree…look at the branches…if you see it the audience will see
it…This big Butternut Tree… but don’t any of this too seriously,
because you’re going to become a lawyer…”
Yeah,
sure, Dad.
Well,
after I appeared in my first movie as Stacy Keach, Jr., agents
approached me and asked me if I would consider losing the Jr…and I
told them I would discuss it with Dad. I mean, there were so many
instances in our life when Mom Would call out Stacy…and everybody
would say, Jr. or Sr? I never really like being called Junior, and I
told Dad…he said, he would be happy to be called Senior if it would
help avoid confusion…he was very proud of his sons and his family.
No man ever loved his family more…nothing gave him greater pleasure
than to be surrounded by those he loved, and it was special for all of
us to be with him the day before he passed away, reading sections aloud
from his autobiography, especially the sections where he described his
courtship of Mom.
He taught me the importance of standing up for what you believe in…and
that there is no greater priority in life than the love of your family
and your friends… and that is not just his legacy for me, but for all
of us.
The other day Mom recited a quote she recalled from Tennyson and I told
her I would share it with you all…
“So
lived, that when thy summons comes
I
go not like a quarry slave
Approach
thy grave like one
Who
wraps the drapery of his couch around him,
And
lies down to silent dreams.”
And
Dad loved Shakespeare…
“When
to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I
summon up remembrance of things past
I
sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And
with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:
Then
can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For
precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And
weep afresh love’s long since cancelled woe,
And
moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then
can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And
heavily from woe to woe tell o’er
The
sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which
I new pay as if not paid before.
But
if the while I think on thee, dear friend
All
losses are restored, and sorrows end.
Love,
Stacy Keach, Jr. |
