Olin Keith Lepard M.D.

Olin Keith Lepard, "Dr. Keith", left this life on May 21, 2024. He was 87. Keith was a kind, generous, theatrical man. The oldest of 3, Keith was born in Ithaca, NY and grew up in Ann Arbor where the family lived during Keith's early school years. Keith loved Ann Arbor and their house on Chicago Road. He told stories about volunteering at Saturday football games with his Scout troop - beginning a lifelong dedication to Michigan football. During the Ann Arbor years, the family began attending Camp Westminster in Roscommon, Michigan where he reveled in camping, canoeing, and sailing. Keith later worked at the camp as a counselor and "protector" and in time his children and grandchildren continued the tradition. Keith's family made a final move to Sturgis, Michigan where Keith attended high school. Keith is described by his brother as a "standout athlete" in high school in college, participating in football, basketball and track events including shot put, discus, and javelin.
At Albion College, Keith prepared for medical school and continued his track and field career. If you take a tour of the Albion athletic halls, you might find traces of Keith in the trophy case - he was the 1958 MIAA shot put and discus champion. After Albion, Keith took an academic break and joined the peace-time army, training in Texas and New York before being stationed in Germany. A stack of letters he sent home during that time describe a relaxed military service. While training in New York he saw Music Man and My Fair Lady on Broadway and played on the basketball team. In Germany he wrote about joining the wrestling team and teaching the officer's children how to swim while lamenting the drudgery of setting up and taking town tents in an open field.
When Keith returned, he began his medical training at Wayne State Medical School in Detroit. At Wayne he met his future wife Linda Logsdon. Their first partnership was sharing a cadaver in anatomy class. They married between the first and second year of medical school and had their first child a year later. Two more children followed during medical school and residencies, Linda for psychiatry and Keith for general surgery. Keith worked as a general surgeon for many years before a mid-life career switch to psychiatry. Asked about the change, he said that he felt he could be more helpful to people as a psychiatrist. Keith worked in private practice for a time, and was medical director of a Sinai Hospital clinic for the deaf and hard of hearing community. During that time he made an effort to learn sign language which though largely unsuccessful, did result in him peppering his conversations at home with ASL signs, much to his family's confusion. In the last stage of his career, which lasted into his early 80's, Keith focused on care for developmentally disabled adults living in group homes.
Keith loved poetry, plays and music. He sang and performed on stage in community theater, particularly Saint Dunstan's Playhouse. He had leading roles in Oklahoma!, Damn Yankees, Waiting for Godot, and Equus. His motto was "no audience too small" and he offered this advice: "Always have a poem memorized. You never know when you might need it." Keith had an impressive memory for theatrical works and had many poems memorized, particularly works of Robert Frost and Robert Service. Service wrote about the Alaska frontier, and Keith sometimes mused about retiring and going to Alaska during the summer to perform works by Service.
One of Keith's favorite places was Camp Michigania, a University of Michigan Alumni family camp that Keith and family attended for nearly 50 years. Keith was passionate about Camp and the time spent with children and grandchildren. He never missed a week and through the years did everything from bird hikes to ping pong tournaments. Keith was a big part of the weekly theatrical show, in which he performed skits, songs and poems. His poems about camp mishaps became legendary. He would spend the week scouting for material and secretly writing or composing. On the last night of the week, he delivered his work in a dramatic, booming voice.
Music was always a passion for Keith and he found companionship and a fellow lover of music in Marlene Plum in his later years. The two talked, sang, attended concerts and spent weekends at her cottage. Marlene and Keith continued their companionship until the very end.
Keith is survived by his children Jennifer Lepard and husband Michael Hartman; Alison Lepard and husband Steve Tosini; Eric Lepard and wife Patty Corea, and grandchildren Rachel and Kegan Hartman, and Nick, Morgan, and Artemis Tosini. Keith continues to be remembered by his siblings and their spouses, Paul and Kaye Lepard, and Anne and Paul Toth.
A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, Jul 13, 2024, 11am at Northbrook Presbyterian Church, 22055 W. 14 Mile Rd., Beverly Hills, MI.
Memorial tributes to Camp Westminster, 17567 Hubbell Ave., Detroit, MI 49235, and St. Dunstan's Theatre, P.O. Box 59, Birmingham, MI 48012.