Keith Louis Bottrell Jr. landed on planet earth on Aug 8, 1953.  By his own admission, he often chose the more difficult path in life.  Keith had no patience for bigots, misogynists, homophobes or owners of barking dogs.  Especially owners of barking dogs.

Keith was father of 3 daughters, grandfather of 2 children, longtime friend of Gene, Eldon, and Duane.  But, his real love was for the bright folks of the next generation:  nephew Ben, the whole Skinner gang-especially Johanna who said "I am going to call you Boris," Mike, Phyllis, and Claire - Keith especially enjoyed watching Claire (on YouTube) wrestle on the last Saturday of his time on this planet, and Hunter Grace, who he teased unmercifully.  He also loved his "adopted" son, Scotty.

On the marriage front, the third time was the charm for Keith. (It takes some of us longer to get it right.)  The first week of January, 2009, he took a week of vacation from work, got bored, signed into eHarmony just to see who was out there.  That is when he saw Kathy's profile.  After the first date, he kept saying "you are sane, you are sane." Apparently, though Kathy doesn't remember, he asked how much credit card debt she had.  When the reply was none, he was suddenly head over heels in love.  Keith and Kathy were married May 22, 2010.

Keith supported himself and his family by his work in a variety of occupations.  Among other things, he was a corn miller for the Crete mills, and he sold investments, securities and insurance. Keith helped set up the milling operation for a dog food plant in Fremont, NE. He worked in a lumberyard and then an auto parts store in Beloit, KS.

In late November of 2017, Keith and Kathy packed up everything, and moved from Beloit, KS to Kimberling City, MO.  The idea was that he was going to catch a ton of fish while out on the boat on Table Rock Lake.  It didn't go quite the way he hoped, there were days when Kathy caught more than he did, but most often both Keith and Kathy drowned a lot of worms while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

With Kathy holding him in her arms, Keith left this earth on December 10, 2024.

Above all else, Keith did life his way.  It doesn't get any better than that.

No services are planned at this time.  Cremation is under the direction of the Stumpff Funeral Home, Kimberling City, MO.