Capt. Maurice Keating

Captain Maurice KEATING Captain Maurice Keating passed away Thursday Nov 13th at the age of 91. Inspired by Charles Lindberg, Maury's interest in aviation began at an early age. He spent his youth in Salt Lake City, where his father was in the seed business. Maurice Keating Sr. often took his two young sons, Bill and Maury, to the airfield to watch airplanes land and take off. After graduating from East High in Salt Lake, Maury enrolled at USC in Los Angeles majoring in business. While at USC he was hired by United Airlines as a passenger agent and was sent to Salt Lake City, where he was able to complete his degree at the University of Utah, work for UAL, learn to fly, and ski when time permitted. It was on a ski date that he fell in love with Margaret Gillette, a registered nurse and one of the first stewardesses for Western Airlines. The couple married in 1941, and Maury became a flight instructor. When World War II began he was hired as a B-24 test pilot for Consolidated Vultee Aircraft. He delivered personnel and supplies to the Pacific Theater throughout the war. After World War II, Maury and Margaret began their family, and soon moved with their two small sons to Anchorage where Maury was captain and chief pilot for Pacific Northern Airlines. Two daughters were born there, and then the family moved to Mercer Island where their third son was born. PNA soon merged with Western Airlines, and it was with Western that Maury concluded his commercial career, flying the DC 10 between Seattle and Honolulu. Approaching 60, Maury decided to enter the Honolulu Marathon, beginning a phase of marathon running. He completed three marathons between the ages of 60-65. After reluctantly retiring from Western at the mandatory age of 60, Maury joined a group of pilots challenging the Age 60 rule. This ruling finally changed in 2007, allowing commercial airline pilots to fly until age 65. During this time Maury enjoyed flying as a corporate pilot for the construction firm Howard S. Wright. He further challenged himself by flying for the air ambulance service, Airlift Northwest, from which he retired at age 75. After retirement, the Keatings spent many wonderful years traveling between Mercer Island and Honolulu. Their biggest life challenge was losing their oldest son Dennis at the age of 46. In spite of this sadness, Maury enjoyed life to the fullest. He was a volunteer driver for senior services, a charter member of the Museum of Flight, played tennis with a group at the Seattle Tennis Center until the age of 85, and played golf until he was 89. He and Margaret had many wonderful friends and spent quality time with their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Maury counted his blessings every day, had a kind word for everyone he met, and never complained about his troubles. He never avoided a challenge, was generous to a fault, had high expectations for himself at all times, and adored and appreciated his best friend, Margaret. Maury's spirit will live on in the many people that he touched in his long lifetime. Maury was preceeded in death by his mother Grace, his father Maurice, his sister Barbara, and his eldest son, Dennis. He is survived by his loving wife Margaret, His brothers William (Billie) and Jack (Libby), his children Don (Lori), Janet Campbell (Duncan), Margie Ose (Gregg) and Michael, grandchildren, Matt, Jeff, Craig, Mike, Kelsey, Jordan, Ryan, Amanda, Alex, and Patrick, and great-grandchildren Sydney, Blake, Lauren, Ava, Will, Keaton, Coltan, Adam, and Luke, and many adoring nieces and nephews. We will all miss Maury's charm, fun-loving nature, courage and faith. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 22nd at 2:00p.m. at Unity of Bellevue 16330 NE 4th St., Bellevue 98008 Remembrances may be made to The Museum of Flight 9404 E. Marginal Way Seattle WA 98108 Or Unity of Bellevue.