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William Keefer passed away April 7 in Rockton, Ill., at the age of 83. The retired industrial executive served Beloit College for more than four decades, working with half of the College’s ten presidents. He taught economics at the College in the 60s, guided the College through the financially challenging 1970’s, and chaired the College’s board of trustees for eight years in the 80s and 90s.
Beloit College President John Burris praised Bill Keefer as “one of the most important figures in the history of Beloit College in the 20 th Century. His dedication to the College and its advancement helped to carry the College through some of its most challenging periods. He inspired others to come forward and secure the College’s position both in the community and in the nation as a leading educational resource. Bill and Gayle’s generosity will have an impact on generations of graduates to come. But most of all, he was a friend and a wise counselor to me and my predecessors. He will be greatly missed.”
With his wife Gayle, he was a generous benefactor of the College at all levels. He created the College’s first fully endowed professorship in 1984 with the establishment of the Gayle and William Keefer Chair in the Humanities. In succeeding years, the Keefers established funds to attract and support junior faculty, to support the endowment, and to help create the new Center for the Sciences.
Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride noted that “Bill Keefer loved his family and his country, and he loved institutions, of which Beloit College was a very lucky example. Bill believed in the humanities and their power to expand the human capacity, clarify the human condition, and foster the human curiosity. My association with Bill and Gayle has been one of the most fortunate and inspiring ones of my life. Tenacious and plain-spoken, compassionate and ingenious, Bill was the sort of guy that the world needs a whole lot more of.”
A native of Chicago, he was a graduate of the University of Chicago and did graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined Warner Electric Brake & Clutch Company in 1957. He was elected vice president in 1960, president in 1967, and chairman and chief executive officer in 1984. He served as President of the Stateline United Givers Fund, a precursor to the United Way, and was a founder of the Stateline Community Foundation.
Keefer first became affiliated with the College in 1963 when he began a three-year stint teaching economics. In 1970, working with former President Miller Upton, he formed the Upton-Keefer Committee to stimulate economic development and community improvement. He joined the board of trustees in 1976 and chaired numerous committees before succeeding Harry Moore as chairman of the board in 1986. He served in that post for eight years. He stepped down in 1994 and was honored that year with the conferral of the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at commencement. In 1996, he was elected a life trustee of the College.
Bill Keefer married Gayle Kamen in 1951. He is survived by his wife, and two children, Kirsten and Keith and his wife Marcia, and two grandchildren Jillian and Derek.
A memorial service will be held in Eaton Chapel at Beloit College at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, 2008.
Gifts in memory of Bill Keefer can be made to Beloit Regional Hospice, the Stateline Community Foundation, or Beloit College.