Jim Keeler

1930 - 2023

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Jim Keeler, a West Toledo florist who supplied fresh flowers, artistically arranged, for occasions public or personal, died Sunday at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, South Detroit Avenue. He was 92.

He'd been in declining health after breaking a hip more than a year ago, said his daughter Julie Paulsen. He was a skilled nursing resident at Elizabeth Scott Community in Springfield Township.

His shop, Jim Keeler Florist, opened in 1959 at 4349 Monroe St., where it remained until July, 1983, when it moved to 4415 Secor Rd.

Mr. Keeler's floral work decorated weddings. He outfitted the church and the reception venue.

He had bouquets and boutonnieres for the couple and their attendants and family. Those paying respects relied on him for funeral arrangements. He decorated churches for Easter and Christmas, and he offered just the right touch for those showing their love with flowers on Valentine's Day or Mother's Day.

"He was so creative and he loved designing floral arrangements," said daughter Jill Kohntopp, who worked for him, as did Mrs. Paulsen. "Designing and decorating was the core of his being. He was an artist, a designer."

The shop supplied flowers for about a dozen churches weekly and for businesses. His evergreen arrangements graced banks after Thanksgiving.

"Christmas was his favorite season to decorate, and he loved everything that went with it," Mrs. Paulsen said.

Barbara Schuster, a longtime Toledo florist, recalled his helpfulness after the death in 1967 of her father, the namesake of what had been Paul Ansted Florist.

"He was such a special guy," said Mrs. Schuster, who retired from Ansted-Schuster Florist about three years ago. "He may have been your competitor, but he was your friend. [He said] 'Barbara, anything you need, come see me.' He helped me more than anything. He was a joy to be around, happy and smiling.

"If you were down, he'd cheer you up," she said, recalling the funeral arrangement he sent her when she turned 40. "I loved it."

He sold the business in the mid-1990s but continued to help other florists as needed for the next 15 years. Until about five years ago, he worked in silk flowers at Michaels, the arts and crafts store on Talmadge Road.

He began his career with florist Fred Bartz and, by the mid-1950s, received an award for one of his arrangements from what was then the Michigan Floral Association. He received a bachelor of business administration degree in 1956 from the University of Toledo.

His wife, Joan, encouraged him to open his own shop, and she remained involved throughout, Mrs. Paulsen said.

James George Keeler was born in Toledo Nov. 21, 1930, the only child of Clara and Herbert Keeler. He was a 1949 graduate of DeVilbiss High School. An Army veteran, he served stateside and became a corporal.

He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church downtown.

Surviving are his wife, the former Joan Burgoon, whom he married April 19, 1958; daughters Julie Paulsen and Jill Kohntopp; six grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.

Visitation will be from 3 p.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday at the Foth-Dorfmeyer Mortuary, where funeral services will begin at 1 p.m. Thursday.

The family suggests tributes to St. Paul's Lutheran Church or a charity of the donor's choice.