LI St. Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal's Death 'Almost Epic Irish Novel Tragedy'

LONG ISLAND, NY — Anyone who knew Joe Keyes can remember he was steadfast and conducted himself with integrity.

If he believed in something, he would dig in his heels and fight.

His was a life marked by service to his family and his village.

Keyes never sought the limelight, but when he felt called to serve Patchogue, he stepped up, and joined the Community Development Agency, which he headed for two years before being elected a trustee on the village board and took on the role of the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation.

Just recently, Keyes, was appointed by the village's Cultural Heritage Committee to lead its annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 23. His moment in the sun had finally come, and anyone in the room could have seen that Keyes, who was very proud of his Irish lineage, was overwhelmed by the great honor.

In February, he was feted in a procession led by bagpipers inside the James Joyce Pub and Restaurant at the annual Passing of the Sash ceremony. Bedecked in plaid, there was a gleam in his eye. In video of the event, anyone could see he was beaming with joy.

But by the month's end, he had come down with what is believed to be a virus, and it hit him hard. He died March 10 at the age of 73, a little over two weeks before he was to kick off the line of march as part of the parade's festivities.

His unexpected death has left many in the community reeling from the shock, not to mention his large family.

Keyes was, after all, a family man.

His son, Joey, said he had been experiencing flu-like symptoms, with a fever and chills, and his mother, Linda, ended up taking the patriarch to the emergency room at a local hospital.

While hospitalized, he got progressively worse and his heart began struggling. In the end, he had a massive heart attack that claimed his life.

"It was very unexpected," Joey said, adding that medical staff were never really able to get to the bottom of what got him sick in the first place.

In addition to his wife, Keyes leaves behind not only Joey, but his three brothers, Brian, Christopher, and Jonathan. He also leaves behind four daughter-in-laws, including Anna, Dana, Lesley, and Amy, as well as four grandchildren, including, Charlotte, Juliet, Kaleb, Phoebe, and Aiden.

Daughter-in-law Amy called Keyes "one-of-a-kind."

He was "full of kindness" and was "so sincere it seemed other-wordly," and "relentlessly fair and thoughtful," she said.

He always knew what to say, what to do in most difficult situations," she said. "He was the best of us and while my heart is broken for what his family has lost, I am so grateful for everything he gave us."

Roots In The Emerald Isle

The family of Keyes, who could trace his roots back centuries to counties like Kilkenny, Wexford, and Donegal, emigrated from Ireland five generations ago.

His roots were something that was never far from his mind, and there was a deep connection to where he came from.

He grew up in North Bellport and met his wife at Bellport High School, and when Joey was a baby, the family moved to Patchogue in 1975.

"Irish heritage was something that he was so proud of," Joey said. "And, you know, the dream of his life, which he got to do, is he and my mom got to go to Ireland a few years ago, and he got to see all the places where family members and relatives lived."

"Serving as grand marshal in this parade was a dream of his for years," Joey said. "It was very important to him."

He had been looking forward to the big day "so much" and already had his outfit picked out.

Joey said he and his brothers plan to march in their dad's stead next week, then the family will retire to Keyes' home.

It would be fitting as family was very important to him.

Joey described his dad as the kind of person who was always put other people above himself, and that would be seen in "the work that he did as a trustee for the village."

"He was always thinking about, what's going to make the village better for future generations to live here, and all of his initiatives were really focused on what's going to make a better quality-of-life, not just for the people who live here now but for his grand-childrens' generation and the generation after that," Joey said. "He was never, ever a kind of guy who sought attention for himself."

"He was extremely humble, which is one of the things that makes this so heartbreaking, is that finally, after all these years of humble service and putting others before himself, he was finally getting his moment in the sun," Joey said.

Every year there is a special insert called "The Wit and Wisdom News" in the village's hometown paper, The Long Island Advance. Keyes will never get to see the honor. Instead, there will be a memorial section this year.

"He's not going to get to see that and experience that," Joey said. "It's just brutal."

He was the focal point and cornerstone of many things in the village and his family that "so many universes orbited around," he added.

"To think of him not being here, it's just a vacuum now," Joey said. "I can't begin to get my head around it."

"It will be really rough on the grandkids," Joey said. "They really loved their poppa."

Joey's mother is also taking Keyes' death hard, as they met as teenagers and were married 52 years.

"There's never been a minute he hasn't been at her side," Joey said. "That loss is not something she's gonna really be able to acclimate to."

Despite the great loss, the Keyes family will persevere and plan to carry on with the parade.

Tears Running Through Smiles In Remembrance

Longtime friend and parade chairman Tom Keegan said he was "crying just thinking about next Sunday will be like for Keyes' family."

"I'm glad they had the chance to be with him for the best Passing of the Sash ever," he added.

Keegan, a past grand marshal, flanked his longtime friend as he walked in, then patted him on the back as he was met by the cheering crowd.

Keyes' death is "unbelievable" because he was actually almost exactly the same age. At the Passing of the Sash, he "seemed to be the happiest man on earth, the greatest family around him," Keegan said.

"His sons and his daughters-in-law, they're certainly very, very adamant about insisting that we'll carry on and have the parade, and let his memory be honored by their presence," he said.

A similar occurrence happened with the very first parade in 1996, and the parade also went on.

The first grand marshal, Catherine McPeak, died three weeks before the parade.

McPeak and Keyes' losses are not the only ones associated with Patchogue's parade.

Also poignant is that in the last five years, four of the past grand marshals have lost their wives, including Keegan's own, Peggy, six months ago.

The Perfect Trustee

Village's Mayor Paul Pontieri said the last time he spoke with Keyes was sometime two weeks ago and he was tired.

"If you put 10 people in a room and say, 'Pick me the healthiest-looking guy in the room' ... Joe Keyes would be the healthiest-looking guy in the room," Pontieri said. "Yeah, and now he's gone, it's very hard to put my hands around it."

Once in office, Keyes proved to be the perfect trustee.

He was hard-working and smart, and had a good sense about what the needs of the parks and recreation department were.

"It's just a real shame," he said.

Also, unusual was that he was happy to remain a trustee, and never sought higher office, though he and Pontieri had talked about it at times.

He handled his election to the village board the same way he did his position as a Long Island Rail Road supervisor.

"You talk to the people he worked with; he was hard-working, firm, understanding — the guy that you want to work for, and that's what he was as a trustee, too," Pontieri said. "He took the job as a trustee. He served the people, and the recreation department was the perfect platform."

Pontieri said he first met Keyes when his son played baseball with him, probably in the late 80s, early 90s. They met again at a gym, and he started showing up at village board meetings when I first became mayor.

"It's really a tragedy that we lost him, because nothing was better than him," said Pontieri, who became mayor in 2004.

Keyes would sit in the back row with Frank Ambrosio, and Pontieiri's sister, Marilyn Pontieri.

"The three of them, they were in the peanut gallery," he said. "And for the first couple of years, they came to every single meeting, sat in the back, and left."

Keyes later jumped at the opportunity to join the Community Development Agency, and as chairman, he helped the village make decisions for affordable housing for the Artspace Patchogue Lofts and Copper Beech Village.

He was elected the village board in 2009 and later took on the role of Commissioner at the Department of Public Works. After former trustee Sal Felice came onto the board, he took over that role, and Keyes took over the Parks and Recreation Department.

The Beginning Of The Plastic Bag Ban

He formed the Committee for Protecting the Environment in Patchogue and spearheaded a village-wide ban on plastic bags, which was the first government to do so in the state. Suffolk County and the state later followed.

"We set the standard, and he was all part of that," Pontieri said.

He was also responsible for spearheading the charge for artificial turf at the Little League ball fields, which would reduce nitrogen-loading into the atmosphere, as well as the introduction of electric vehicles into the village's fleet, helping reduce the municipality's use of fossil fuels.

"He is a guy that he was extremely important to the village all the time," Pontieri recalled. "He was with us."

Keyes was always a family man first, though.

"His family was really his focus, and it just so happened, that the village became part of it," Pontieri said.

"When we were talking about things, we always ended up with a conversation about what our kids were doing, what his grandkids were doing, and he was just the best of the best, really, just a great guy."

Recreational Initiatives Remembered

Everything changed in recreation.

"His accomplishments in recreation were unmatched by any previous commissioners or trustees, what he was able to accomplish and dedication to the environment," Pontieri said.

Marian Russo, who worked with Keyes on parks and recreation initiatives, called him one of the finest men she had the pleasure of knowing.

"He was a good, decent, and honorable person — genuine in every way," she said. "When you spoke to Joe, he truly listened, engaged, and cared. "His smile was his signature and you could be sure that during every conversation he would come out with a play on words and make you laugh."

Russo said the Keyes accomplished much for the village, "yet remained humble through it all."

"He gave of himself tirelessly to make our community a better place," he said. "Above all, his greatest joy was his family. His love for his wife, Linda, his sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren was clear when he spoke of time spent together."

Like many others, it was Russo's pleasure to work with Keyes for 18 years.

"He was special, and I deeply admired him," she said. "He will be profoundly missed."

Former executive director of the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce David Kennedy, a past grand marshal who worked with Keegan and Keyes on many events, including the parade, called Keyes an "outstanding public servant, but even more an outstanding person."

"He was probably the only person that I can say whenever we encountered each other, I always left feeling happy, positive, and uplifted for it," he said. "He had a tremendous wit and sense of humor like no other."

"I am blessed I had the opportunity to know him both professionally and personally," he said. "I am better for it. He will be deeply missed."

Though Not The Same, An Honor Will Come On Sunday

Brian Egan, who has been the village's attorney for 18 years, saw him mature into the role of a trustee.

"He really embraced his skill set, which was, you know, persuading people, and the passion that he had for the environment and for the parks and healthy recreation, for both seniors and the youth of the village, really was his," he said. "It was an admirable career that he had."

The grand marshals gathered on Wednesday night to discuss how they would honor Keyes at the parade — all carrying the weight of the poignancy of the timing of his death, according to Egan.

"All of us were just struck with the almost epic Irish novel tragedy of this, of the timing," he said. We were all at the passing of the sash just a few weeks ago, and it was an absolutely joyful event."

Keyes whole family was there and he gave a beautiful speech, "combining his typical humor and wit."

"It is very sad that he's not gonna be able to enjoy the parade," he said. "The bright spot of this was that he enjoyed the passing of the sash, and he certainly enjoyed the honor being appointed to the grand marshal. We're really going to miss him dearly at the parade."

Traditional Irish Mourning Customs Will Be Observed

To mark Keyes' passing, the parade will incorporate some traditional Irish mourning customs.

Keyes would have kicked off the line of march, leading the parade, but in his absence, the procession will be marked in tribute with Egan and the other grand marshals wearing black armbands, commonly worn at funerals, as they carry a traditional Irish flower arrangement, commissioned by the parade committee, featuring a photo of Keyes.

The black arm band is something that Egan hopes the committee will never have to wear again.

"We reviewed some of those, and we're going to pick something special to keep Joe with us in the line of march," Egan said.

It will then be displayed on the reviewing stand, and his family will join Egan, the master of ceremonies, on the reviewing stand throughout the parade "to really enjoy the tribute that's paid to him," he said.

Keyes' might have missed his moment in the sun, but there is still somewhat of a silver lining to the unexpected turn of events in that he had the chance to take part in the Passing of the Sash ceremony.

If there is anything that one can remember from Keyes' story it is "the tragic timing," Egan said.

"And just remember that no day is ever promised," he said. "The next tomorrow is never promised to anyone, so take advantage of every day."

Keyes did just that, though.

He was a man of conviction, who had many lessons for his sons, Joey says.

"It was just that sense of right and wrong and drive to do the right thing, that is what I learned from him, more than anything else," Joey said. "That's really representative of who he was."

"The St. Patrick's Day Parade and this honor meant everything to him, and we will absolutely be there marching for him," Joey said. "I was the family member that was most resistant or ambivalent about some of the Irish heritage stuff, but you better believe I'm going to be there in green."