Gary Wayne Keitel, age 68, went home to be with his Lord on Friday, January 22, 2021. He passed easily in his sleep at home in Hartford, Alabama, after five years of determinedly beating the odds against lung cancer.

Gary was a kind man with an ornery sense of humor who loved the Lord, worked hard to provide for his family, cherished his wife and children, and was beloved by his family and friends. Born August 5, 1952 in Paola, Kansas to Wanda Madge (England) Keitel and Herman Eldon Keitel, Gary, together with his brothers Thomas Ray (Tom) and David Eldon (Dave), grew up on their parents' 120-acre dairy farm in Fontana, Kansas. After high school, Gary majored in Farm and Ranch Management at the Southeast Kansas Area Vocational-Technical School in Coffeyville, Kansas. Upon graduation in 1972, Gary stayed and taught at the school for over a decade. During this time he met a lovely young woman whom he instantly recognized as the one the Lord had shown him in a dream some years before: Annette Jean (Cunningham).

They married on November 29, 1977, and she was his beloved wife for thirty-three years. While still at the school, they were blessed with their daughter, Kindra Denise, and three years later their son, Garrett Wayne. Following the school's eventual closure, Gary accepted an employment offer from Leonard McKinzie, owner of Sunnybrook Farms, a three-farm operation handling 500-700 feeder cattle in Kansas. The family of four moved to Paola, Kansas, where Gary, together with Jim Stone who remains Gary's closest friend, co-managed the three farms for Leonard. Here Gary and his family enjoyed eighteen years of hard work, rodeos, praising the Lord, laughter and love. After the ranch downsized in 2007, Gary moved into professional long-haul truck driving for Conway Truck-Load, with Annette accompanying him for the first two-and-a-half years, while Kindra and Garrett moved to Hutto, Texas. Gary and Annette enjoyed their travels together across the United States as Gary drove the "big rig," with many adventures and occasions of laughter along the way. But this changed in August 2010, after Annette took time off to seek medical attention for a persistent and worsening backache.

On September 8, 2010, the family was devastated by the sudden loss of their sweet Annette to cancer. Though she is now joyfully with the Lord, she remains ever a part of her family's hearts, who miss her greatly, treasuring her memories and the richness she brought to their lives. Returning to the road and still mourning, Gary couldn't imagine ever finding another Annette...and he never did. Instead, after a few years, and with a little God-breathed "set-up" encouragement from Annette's niece and close friend Connie Kemmis, Gary met Connie's good friend and sister-in-the-Lord, Rebecca Sue Shepherd. This time, it was Rebecca whom the Lord had shown Gary, before she ever met him. Gary and Rebecca married in Hartford, Alabama on December 4, 2014, and loved one another deeply, with much joy. Rebecca often told Gary, "Annette raised you right!' And Rebecca's understanding of God's love deepened, through Gary's own unconditional love for her. Shortly after his diagnosis with cancer in late 2015, Gary retired from professional truck-driving. He was rightfully proud of his record of 860,000 miles of accident-free driving in big rigs. Those who knew him remember not only his powerful work ethic and refusal to give up even on the very hardest work against his cancer, but also the strength of his soul and spirit in his love for the Lord and for his family.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved first wife, Annette.

He is survived by his loving wife Rebecca, devoted children Kindra and Garrett/better-half Angela, brothers Tom/Connie and Dave/Julie, beloved family friends Edith Rosa and Danielle Motter, dearest friend since childhood Andy Kramer, treasured friend and fellow cowboy Jim Stone, members of both Gary's and Annette's family and many friends, who will mourn and miss Gary.

And many of these would tell Gary as he stands happily before the Lord, no longer in that terrible final struggle with cancer, "Tell Annette we said hi!"

Gary's ashes will be interred beside Annette at the Dewey Cemetery in Dewey, OK.

Those services will be held after the COVID-19 pandemic has waned, hopefully in the summer of 2021.

A virtual memorial online, led by Pastor Hilburn Stanley of the Higher Praises fellowship in Hartford, AL, will be held early in February, 2021.   

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