Walter Beebe Keene
Walter Beebe Keene passed away peacefully on the morning of September 3, 2016. He is survived by his daughters Peggy (Alan Ross) and Susan, 4 grandchildren, 2 sisters, and numerous nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by his beloved wife Pearl and 3 brothers. Walter was born on January 1, 1923, in Kennewick, WA, to Lewis and Clarissa (Spencer) Keene, the third of six children. After graduating from Kennewick High School in 1941, he worked in auto shops and the Bremerton shipyards, before enlisting in the Army Air Corps during World War II where he served in the Pacific theater, flying numerous missions over Japan in a B-29 Superfortress. After the war, Walter attended Central Washington college in Ellensburg, WA, graduating with a degree in Physics. He was employed at Boeing for over 30 years as a non-destructive testing engineer. Walter married Pearl Norman in 1956 in Seattle, where the family made their home in the View Ridge neighborhood. They were married for over fifty years before Pearl passed away in 2006. Walter enjoyed gardening, working on home improvement projects, and tinkering with gadgets in his garage. He was the neighborhood fix-it man, repairing small appliances for the neighbors for fun, as well as mending fences, tuning cars, and fixing plumbing. He and Pearl enjoyed traveling in retirement, visiting Montana and New England among other places, and regularly attending Mariner’s Spring Training in Arizona. He was a wise, kind, and loving husband, father and grandfather. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society.
