Deacon Robert L. Keeley, who served at St. Philip Neri, Linthicum, dies at 91

Deacon Robert “Bob” Lawrence Keeley, who served at St. Philip Neri in Linthicum Heights for more than 40 years as permanent deacon, died in his house by natural causes, surrounded by his family Jan. 18. He was 91.

Deacon Keeley was remembered by parishioners and fellow clergy for his devotion to the parish community and especially for his ministry of teaching and preaching to children.

“He loved to teach about the faith, even more so to the children and youth,” said Deacon Mark Rachid, office manager of the pastorate of St. Clement I in Lansdowne and St. Philip Neri. “Their formation and understanding of Jesus being their friend was very important to him.”

Teresa Tews, Deacon Keeley’s daughter, said children at Mass were very excited whenever her father would call them to sit at the front of the altar during his homilies. He made an effort to speak to them at their level, she said. 

Deacon Keeley was born May 22, 1930, in Burlington, Iowa. He grew up in St. Anthony of Padua in Atkinson, Ill., and St. John the Evangelist in Galva, Ill. 

After he graduated from St. Bede Academy in Peru, Ill., in 1948, he became a postulant for consecrated life in a Dominican friary in Illinois. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Sancti Thomae Aquinatis Collegium Dominicanum in Illinois in 1953, he joined the Benedictine community at St. Bede Abbey in Peru, Ill. 

Deacon Keeley eventually left the Benedictine monastery and joined the U.S. Army in 1955. His duty stations and tours included Germany, France, Vietnam, California, Georgia and Maryland.

While serving in Berlin, Germany, Deacon Keeley met Elizabeth Rightnour, his future wife. They married July 9, 1960.

The veteran of the war in Vietnam served the country for 20 years and retired after attaining the rank of major in 1975. He then worked for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He earned a master’s degree in education from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  

Monsignor Francis X. Zorbach, former associate pastor (1970-71) and pastor of St. Philip Neri (1971-2003), encouraged Deacon Keeley to explore the diaconate. With the support of his faith community, Deacon Keeley was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1978 at St. Philip Neri.

Carol Webb, a parishioner and administrative assistant at the parish, recalled Deacon Keeley saying on numerous occasions that if it hadn’t been for Monsignor Zorbach, he would not have become a deacon. Years later, Deacon Keeley, in turn, motivated and mentored Deacon Rachid to become a deacon.

“He was instrumental in my discerning process,” Deacon Rachid said. “He helped me along my formation and in following the spiritual path God had for my life.”

Deacon Rachid recalls asking himself, “Do I really need to become a deacon to serve the church?” Although his answer was initially “no,” it later became “yes” when Deacon Keeley asked him the same question years later.

At St. Philip Neri, Deacon Keeley celebrated weddings and baptisms, distributed Communion to the homebound and assisted at weekend Masses. He was also involved in the Children’s Liturgy of the Word, the Knights of Columbus and Our Daily Bread in Baltimore. He served as chaplain for the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, of which his wife and daughter, Teresa Tews, were members.

Deacon Keeley also taught religious education classes in the parish and at St. Philip Neri School.

Deacon Rachid said Deacon Keeley was a catalyst in developing St. Philip Neri’s men’s group, ministering not only to Catholics but also non-Catholic men of the neighborhood. He noted Deacon Keeley wanted to bring men who were not Catholic to the church.

According to Tews, Deacon Keeley wrote “the deacon’s pondering” in the weekly bulletin.

Father Dale Picarella, former pastor of St. Philip Neri from 2004 to 2014 and current pastor of the Catholic Community of Ascension and St. Augustine in Halethorpe and Elkridge, said Deacon Keeley was always a faithful person and was engaged with family life. 

“He felt a personal call to serve,” Father Picarella said. “In his homilies, Deacon Bob spoke about the Lord’s love and the truth of how the Lord works in our life to bring us to salvation.”

In his later years as a retired deacon, Deacon Keeley served the community at funerals, prayer services and weekend Masses.

“He had a real sense of affinity for those people who lost loved ones,” Father Picarella said. “I remember him always being at the funerals consoling people and consoling them after their loss.”

Father Michael DeAscanis, who served as pastor of St. Philip Neri from 2015 to 2021 and is current pastor of the pastorate St. Louis in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi in Fulton, said Deacon Keeley is fondly remembered by the parishioners.

“He had a cheerful presence in the parish,” Father DeAscanis said, who celebrated Deacon Keeley’s 40-year anniversary as a deacon. “He would lift people’s spirits and was always ready with a kind word.”

Father DeAscanis said Deacon Keeley was a great example of fatherhood.

“Even though he served in the military for 20 years, you could see his tender heart with his son Kevin (who has mental disabilities),” Father DeAscanis said. “Deacon Bob and Kevin were very close, often seen together.” His youngest son would also serve as an altar server with Deacon Keeley.

Tews, a parishioner of St. Philip Neri, said her father was “strict, but a good dad.” He always tried to be involved with the family, particularly by being present at his children and grandchildren’s events, she said.

“I like the fact that my children not only love each other but like each other,” she recalls him constantly saying.

Deacon Keeley and his wife had nine children, some of whom attended St. Philip Neri School in Linthicum Heights, Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn and Mount St. Joseph High School in Baltimore. 

His children remember Deacon Keeley would often gather them around the table for a game of “high-stakes poker” where he would dole out a few pennies to each of them, imparting the difference between a straight and a flush.

It wasn’t until retirement when he was able to play regularly and earn the nickname “Ace Keeley” amongst his card-playing colleagues, family members said.

Deacon Keeley was preceded in death by his wife; a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Keeley; and a son, Jay Lawrence Keeley.

He is survived by his children Christine Marie Trageser, Robert Lawrence Keeley Jr., Teresa Marie Tews, Kathryn Marie Holden, Ann Marie Ceballos, Karen Marie Foley and Kevin Lawrence Keeley. He also had 18 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A viewing will be held Jan. 26, 7-9 p.m., and Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Philip Neri.

Email Priscila González de Doran at pdoran@CatholicReview.org

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