Charles John Keller

Loving husband, brother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather Charles John Keller passed away on February 9 at 95 years old, at Tucson Medical Center’s Hospice Peppi’s House, surrounded by family. 

He was born in North Bergen, New Jersey on April 6, 1929, to Charles (Otto) Keller and Jennie (Giovanna) Baglieri, immigrants from Switzerland and Sicily, respectively. His family lived in Hoboken when it was a working class Sicilian neighborhood, then moved to Hopewell Junction, New York where his father operated a gas station and auto repair shop. 

At an early age, Charles learned how to take a car apart and put it back together. He read encyclopedias for pleasure and skipped two grades in his one-room schoolhouse, graduating from high school two years early. As a boy, he convinced his parents to buy chickens and invented a machine to make plucking them easier. The proceeds from those chickens helped fuel his path to college at the age of 16. 

He graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1949 and worked as an engineer before enlisting in the United States Army in 1951 during the Korean War. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers, teaching engineers and construction equipment operators at Fort Belvoir, Virginia where he was promoted to Sergeant First Class. He was trained to speed read and memorize long chains of numbers while in the army—skills that delighted his children years later and aided his voracious reading of both engineering manuals and spy novels. 

Before leaving for service, he began dating the love of his life, Anne Maureen Morrison. They married in 1952 in Beacon, NY and together, they raised a large, loving (and loud) family with eight children and 38 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  

In 1954, he began a 35-year career at IBM with senior positions in East Fishkill and Poughkeepsie during IBM’s heyday before his move to Tucson in 1981. He was a lead engineer on the creation of the Sabre travel reservation system, helped pioneer clean room equipment for IBM components, and led the design of thermal systems for large scale computers and the first IBM personal computers. 

Passionate about education and learning, he earned two Masters of Science degrees from Union College in industrial administration and operations research in 1970 and 1976 respectively, and completed coursework toward a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, specializing in heat transfer. 

He never lost his penchant for practical, hands-on building and problem-solving, and his workbench and toolbox were unrivaled. He designed and built two homes, installing every system personally including plumbing, electricity, and heating and cooling. 

He loved traveling: When his eight children were young, vacations were camping trips with a pop-up trailer and Spam and eggs on the camp grill. Later in life, he traveled extensively with his wife and extended family, visiting legions of National Parks and crossing continents. 

A man of few words, he reserved his biggest smiles for the accomplishments and antics of his many grandkids. 

He is survived by his wife Anne Maureen Keller of Tucson, AZ; his sister Jean Rivlin of Croton-on-Hudson, NY; his children Charles Keller (Laura) of Tucson; Maureen Keller Wood (Charles) of Gainesville, FL; David Keller (Mary Ann) of Tucson, AZ; Stephen Keller (Gail Westover) of Crofton, MD; Paul Keller of Tucson (AZ); Anne Maura Neal (Rick) of Reston, VA; Margaret Keller (Brendan Mathews) of Lenox, MA; and Kathleen Keller (Daniel Volchok) of Bethesda, MD, and by 24 grandchildren, 14 great-children, and 3 nieces and nephews. 

He was a parishioner of Corpus Christi Catholic Church and he took his last breath as his family gathered around him in prayer, led by Monsignor Thomas Cahalane. A funeral mass will be held at Corpus Christi on Monday, February 17 at 10:00 am, with rosary and visitation at 9:00 am. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Augustine Catholic High School or St. Vincent de Paul Society.