John Robert Geoffrey KEYSTON

1938 - 2020

DR. JOHN ROBERT GEOFFREY KEYSTON It is with great sadness that the family of Dr. John Robert Geoffrey Keyston announces his passing on December 1, 2020, in Halifax, NS. He is survived by his children, Rebecca (Christopher Overing) and Melanie (Filippo Runcini) and grandchildren, Mila and Juno Runcini. He is predeceased by his wife, Jacqueline (2018) and sister, Judith (2017). Born in Hayes, Middlesex, England, in 1938, the second of two children of Dr. John Edgar Keyston and Phyllis Irene Keyston (née Catlow), he moved with his family to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and then Nova Scotia in 1950. His academic achievements include a M.Sc from Dalhousie University (1958) and a PhD in Experimental Physics from Magdalen College, Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Eager for new challenges he spent 5 years in France as researcher and lecturer at the Université de Grenoble, where he met his wife, Jacqueline. He returned to Canada with a compelling offer from the National Research Council (Ottawa), then joined the Association of the Atlantic Universities (Halifax), and retired as Director of the Maritimes Provinces Higher Education Commission (Fredericton). He moved back to Halifax in 1997. John was a keen skier, windsurfer, kayaker, gardener, and a music and technology enthusiast. He will be remembered fondly by friends and family as the voice of logic and reason and for his intellectual capacity, his handiwork, his dry wit, his genuine empathy and his willingness to lend a helping hand at the drop of hat. There is no service due to the pandemic. Online condolences may be made by visiting https://www.forevermissed.com/drjohnrkeyston/