Joseph O'Keefe

“No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attension to your own family, what have you really accomplished?”

-Lee Iacocca

There is a sign over the door at the Basillica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame that say “God, Country and Notre Dame.” "God, Country, Notre Dame and Pat O'Keefe" would be the sign over Joseph O'Keefe's life.

Joe O’Keefe met life’s challenges with great character, charisma and integrity. Joe was a proud Navy veteran, devoted husband, loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle and a life long learner. Most of all, Joe understood that before you can be a great man, you must first be a good man, and was undeniably both. Joe always said if you don’t know the answer ask questions. Joe asked lots of questions. From how to succeed in business to how to get out of the parking lot.

Joe was born September 2, 1922, in the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois. In later years when Joe’s mother was asked by her grandchildren “Was it Labor Day the day Daddy was born?” Mary B. O’Keefe always answered “I don’t know what the calendar said but when Joe was born it was Labor Day.”

Joe was the last of the couple’s four children, joining his older siblings J. Barry, James, and Mary Francis in the family’s home in Chicago, where his dad ran O’Keefe Brothers Oil. From a young age, it was clear Joe was a bright boy, with an uncommon intelligence. He attended Resurrection Grammar School in Chicago, and then Fenwick High School in nearby Oak Park. While a Sophomore at Fenwick High School he met a pretty Sophomore at Trinity, the nearby girl’s school named Patricia Daley.

In the fall of 1941 Joe O’Keefe enrolled at the University of Notre Dame. Pat enrolled at Saint Mary’s the women’s college across the street. On December 7, 1941 the world turned upside down with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Joe joined the Navy and ended up graduating from Notre Dame in two and a half years. The Navy then picked the top three students to send to Harvard for MBA school. Joe O’Keefe was selected along with his good friends John Ryan and Jim Gallagher. As the war heated up all three were pulled away. Joe was assigned to the USS Tuscaloosa, a cruiser in the South Pacific, as a supply officer. After the war all three came back to finish their MBA’s on the GI Bill. All three finished in the top 10 with Joe claiming the top position. Joe didn’t wait for his diploma but caught the first train Chicago to marry Pat Daly on June 14, 1947.

After a 6 week honeymoon settled in New York where Joe worked in Advertising and their first child Mary Beth was born. After two years Joe was transferred to Philadelphia where their second child David was born. Joe always wanted to get into business for himself and he was noticed by one of his advertising accounts, Ford Motor Company. Ford offered Joe a dealership on their great new car—the Edsel. Pat and Joe decided to relocate to Kalamazoo, Michigan to be closer to family in 1957.

Joe sold a lot of Edsels, but other dealers did not do as well and Edsels were phased out after three years. Joe then acquired a Lincoln Mercury Dealership and a Buick dealership which were very successful. After he sold them in the 1980’s, he earned a commercial real estate brokers license and followed that career for another couple of decades. Joe was active in his community and his church, particularly on the board of Borgess Hospital.

But Joe’s successful business career was always second to his family and his church. He will be missed by his large cirlcle of family and friends. We hold him in prayer and know he and Pat are doing the same for us from a better place.

Joseph David O’Keefe died at his home on Father's Day, June 17, 2007. Joe was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Patricia, his parents John A. and Mary B. O’Keefe, his older brothers, J. Barry and James Charles O’Keefe, and his sister Mary Frances O’Keefe Mulholland. He is survived by his children, Mary Beth O’Keefe (Bernie Buescher) Buescher of Grand Junction, Colorado and J. David O’Keefe of Kalamazoo, Michigan, his grandchildren Michael Buescher, Dr. Elizabeth Buescher, Marcia (Matt) Buescher Bunda, Susan (Brandon) Buescher Sternbaugh, great granddaughter Kaylee Elizabeth, sisters-in-law Elizabeth Daley Marsh, Gertrude Daley Moran, Jane Daley Clark, Claire Daley Archibald and Joan Daley Lee. Learn more about Joe, view his Life Story film, and visit with his family and friends on Tuesday, June 19, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Betzler Life Story Funeral Home in Kalamazoo 6080 Stadium Dr., where a rosary will be recited at 7:30 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday 10:30 a.m. at St. Ann’s followed by a luncheon at the Gull Lake Country Club. Please visit Joe’s personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you can read his Life Story, archive a memory or photo, sign his memory book online before coming to the funeral home or make a memorial donation to the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation 3530 East Campo Abierto Suite 105, Tucson, AZ 85718, Borgess Foundation; Medical Specialties Building, Suite 405 1521 Gull Road Kalamazoo, MI 49048, or Sister of Saint Joseph P.O. Box 29, Nazareth, Michigan 49074.