John Howard Keithley
2006
John Howard Keithley, 84, a Lutheran minister, died of a heart attack Oct. 27 at Kettering Memorial Hospital in Kettering, Ohio. He lived in Dayton.
Rev. Keithley, a native Washingtonian, graduated from Eastern High School and played the trumpet in several local bands in his youth. He served in the Marine Corps in the South Pacific during World War II and was recalled to duty during the Korean War, stationed in the United States.
He worked for C P Telephone Co. for 21 years, working his way up to the job of PBX installer, which took him to many government buildings, including the Pentagon and CIA headquarters. He took night classes at the University of Maryland and in 1966 graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Two years later, he graduated from the Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg and was ordained a Lutheran minister.
In Ohio, he was pastor at several churches and chaplain of the Jefferson Township Fire Department. He retired in 1990.
Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Lois Reckeweg Keithley of Dayton; four children, Kathy Browning of Kettering, Linda Bechtol and Donna Rhyne, both of Miamisburg, Ohio, and Steve Keithley of Celina, Ohio; two sisters, Marian Jones of St. Inigoes and Ruth Hutt of Brandywine; and six grandchildren.