Jack E. Keyes

Jack E. Keyes

Jack E. Keyes died at Eastcastle Place on 3 July 2021, eight days short of his 90th birthday. He leaves behind Audrey Keyes, his wife of nearly 66 years; his four children and their spouses, Bruce (Diane), Janet (Mark Hatherly), David (Laura Gibbons), and Carol (Joe Ferrer) Keyes-Ferrer; his grandchildren, Shayna, Isak and Eli Keyes, and Dana Keyes-Gibbons; and the many relatives and friends who became part of his extensive family.

Jack was born in 1931 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the son of Israel and Molly Cohen. He grew up there, working in his family's grocery store and attending Kenosha High School. It was there, when he was 14, that he met his wife-to-be, Audrey Jean Babush, who was visiting her aunt. With only a brief pause, they would be together for the next 76 years.

Jack was an attorney-at-law, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School. He had a general law practice, helping people deal with business, real estate, crime, divorce, death, taxes, and all the other legal challenges arising out of daily living.

Jack was a 32-degree Master Mason and a Shriner. He twice served as Master of Milwaukee Harmony Lodge #261 F. & A.M. and served as secretary of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin.

Jack was active in his synagogue, Congregation Emanu-El B'ne Jeshurun, serving many years as a trustee, a vice president, and an active member of Temple Brotherhood. He contributed his legal knowledge and wordsmithing to a major revision of the synagogue's bylaws.

He was a supporter of the performing and visual arts in Milwaukee. He served as the President of the Board of the Milwaukee Public Theater and was a long-time subscriber to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He worked backstage, too, handling stage lighting for the Shorewood Players Community Theater for many years. He volunteered for years at the Milwaukee Lakefront Festival of the Arts.

He was a passionate amateur photographer and a collector of old and odd cameras. He donated his extensive collection of cameras to the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

He was just as passionate about traveling with Audrey, family, and friends, taking photos and collecting stories to tell. He chronicled visits to places as disparate as Belize and Bali, the Soviet Union, South Africa and Seattle, Australia and Austria. He and Audrey visited every continent other than Antarctica.

He was a strong supporter of civil rights. He was involved with members of the American Indian Movement after they occupied an unused Coast Guard station at the lakefront in Milwaukee in 1971. And he provided counsel to the Indian Community School. He was a poll monitor and active in the North Shore Democratic Party.

Services were held on July 5, 2021 at Spring Hill Cemetery in Milwaukee. Contributions in his memory to Congregation Emanu-el B'ne Jeshurun, Urban Ecology Center, World Wildlife Fund, or Black Leaders Organizing for Communities are appreciated.