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In memory of

John Joseph Keiper

Medford, NY, USA

1954 - November 7, 2020

1954 - Nov 7, 2020

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John J. Keiper lived a life that was shorter than it could’ve been in years, longer than it should’ve been in tragedies, but even in its most tempestuous periods, appropriately filled with the love of friends, family, colleagues and customers who came to admire (or at least smirkingly tolerate) his brash, blunt, uncompromising way of being and doing.

John was a devoted and dedicated business owner, an indefatigable hangout buddy, a proud father and lovable pain-in-the-ass brother, and a man who only trafficked in deep and illuminating conversations. Although formal education didn’t appeal to him, John remained a voracious learner and reader throughout his life, studying religion, psychology, new trends in his industry and the occasional totally bonkers conspiracy theory.

At the time of his death, from complications due to lung cancer, John still owned a flip phone, didn’t text or use email, and could count the number of times he’d been on the internet on one hand. His children tried to keep mum about the fact that his business had auto-generated pages on Yelp and Facebook, mostly to avoid a spirited and expletive-filled rampage about Big Brother, which, in hindsight, he was pretty much right about.

John was a hard thinker, a hard drinker, and quite possibly history’s hardest smoker — his family doubts Winston cigarettes’ sales margins will recover. He also possessed a nearly pathological work ethic that made him an indispensable hire. John's exacting standards kept him as meticulously focused as he was maddeningly slow, a trait that earned him the nickname “Turtle," which he wore with pride.

John loved privacy, nature, porterhouse steaks and meandering conversations, and more than most anything, he maintained a fierce pride in his entrepreneurship, and the longstanding reputation of his swimming pool maintenance and repair business, Total Pool Concepts. He scheduled his life around its busy season, and maintained an uncompromising commitment to his clients, even if that meant pushing off his personal wants, his home-repairs list, or his health. He derived great satisfaction from working a long, hard day, then retiring to his home office with co-workers or friends and drinking and smoking while engaging in animated complaints about the long, hard day. The complaining was repetitive, but key to the satisfaction.

John lived on Long Island throughout his life, first in Hicksville, then in Medford. He married his teenage sweetheart, Renee, at age 21, and in young adulthood, drove trucks for a soft drink company. In 1976, John and Renee welcomed their first child, J.; their daughter, Nicole, arrived the following year.

In 1981, Renee was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Though she underwent successful treatment, the illness and its aftermath put the couple on a long path of personal and financial struggles. In 1986, John and Renee were sideswiped by a station wagon in their micro-sized Yugo, and John sustained permanent injuries to his shoulder that ended his trucking career.

John learned and shifted into the swimming pool trade, and soon launched his own business. But Renee’s cancer returned in the late 1980s, and she preceded him in death, in 1993. John juggled entrepreneurship and single parenthood as best he could.

In the years that followed he battled Renee's crushing medical debt, another car wreck and injury, prostate cancer, and a much-too-long list of other struggles, but he continued to work hard, and strive, and complain. Even in his final days, in his waning strength, he checked in on his customers, and complained with vigor that he only had three fucking jobs left to do before the end of the season and he needed to get the fuck out of this hospital to do them.

In recent years, John enjoyed happiness and stability with his girlfriend, Erika, who loved him despite his commitment to being “a burro.”

He maintained a goal of retiring to a cabin in the Vermont woods, and when it’s safe to do so, his family will bring him there. No public remembrance is planned, but John’s family asks that you join us in honoring him by raising a cold Heineken or a strong cup of coffee, and doing something you love to do for the rest of the day, very slowly.

In lieu of flowers, you can also honor John by making a donation in his name to the Arbor Day Foundation, an organization he passionately supported for many years. Or buy and plant a tree; he’d like that too.

John is survived by his children, J. (Emily) and Nicole (Keith); his grandchildren, Remington and Calla; his siblings Charlie (Melissa), Judy (Chris) and Joanne (Al); eight nieces and nephews; and his girlfriend Erika, along with many other family members, friends and colleagues who’ve shared a beer, a smoke and a wild, weaving conversation with a singular individual whose absence has already made the world much quieter, and much less interesting.

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In lieu of flowers, consider a gift to Arbor Day Foundation.

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