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Eulogy for
K
Larry
ogh
Larry Keogh died on Saturday, October 26, after a setback while recovering from
serious colon surgery undergone the week before. Larry is survived by his wife
Jan and his three adult sons, Stephen, Christopher, and David. The Keoghs have
been residing at 17125 West 145th Street, Lockport, Illinois 60441-2295;
ldkjmk@aol.com; 815-838-1570)
from VINCE POISELLA ('58):
I knew Larry Keogh only through the annual Marist Family Institute of Spirituality.
What seemed most to consume the life of Larry Keogh was his desire to serve: his
family, his parish community, his students, the clients of his counseling, former
Brothers and their spouses, and indeed, all who crossed his path. His role as
deacon was merely the latest choice in a life devoted to others. Inspired by a
desire that the Marist Spirit be a vehicle for serving, he (along with Hugh Turley
and Denis Dunne) organized the first retreat-reunion at Marist College - soon to
enter its ninth year -- known now as the Marist Family Institute of Spirituality. Larry
and his wife Jan served this community of Brothers, former Brothers, wives,
widows, and friends as they gathered together each summer to pray, share, and
celebrate the Marist Spirit together. His demeanor, although externally calm, belied
the passion within. His soothing and caring words comforted those around him.
His keen perceptions of others reflected his own longing for virtue, feeling that he
himself fell short of his own ideals. The fire in those bright Irish eyes erupted in
disappointment on occasion, as he wondered why life could not be better for all.
One disappointment he showed each July at Marist College was that the makeshift
weekend community didn't expand in action to spread the Marist Spirit throughout
the land! He stepped back, waiting for the process to evolve, like the true
counselor that he was. Larry Keogh will be sorely missed by this modest
community formed each July. And yet, this was only a page in the many chapters
of the book of service in a life inspired by the Marist Spirit.
Eulogy
for
Rev. Dr. Larry Keogh
by
Catherine Cherry
November 2, 2002
Larry was husband, father, professor, Marist, friend, tease, and lover of God. He
was filled with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm comes from the words en Theos which
means "in God", and he lived his life with enthusiasm for learning, teaching, friends
and family, shopping and decorating. He lived his life with an awareness of and a
desire for a relationship with God, and for a desire to share that God in community.
He did so, first as a Marist brother, then in his family as husband and father, and
more recently as a deacon.



He really valued you, his brother deacons, for you became the community with
whom he shared his faith and his hunger for God.
To truly hear what I wish to say, you need to know who I am. I am Larry's friend,
Catherine, from Montreal. We met in Montreal at a time when my father was acting
out in the dementia of the terrible disease of Alzheimers. I needed to learn how to
deal with my aging father, so I went to the Adler Institute to take a course from the
expert in Gerontology from the distant land of Chicago. We became friends and
gave retreats together, for we were both educators and counsellors. Larry brought
his added knowledge of history, sociology and gerontology, and I brought my
training as a spiritual director and retreat director. We made a good team.
I am going to describe the first day we met, because it encapsulates so much
about Larry that was only more fully enfleshed as time went on.
David, you were very sick that day, and your Dad was so worried about you, that
his mind was filled with family and little bits of information kept popping out all day.
He mentioned you were going to stay with your Uncle Jack where you could
recover in the warmth, not just of Florida, but also bask in the warmth and care of
his loving brother whom he knew would help you heal.
Larry spoke of Jan whom he called "his best friend" and "his greatest support,
without whom he would not be where he was", or "have become all he was meant
to be". Jan, Larry always referred to you that way, as "his best friend".
Throughout that day, and all the days since, he kept saying how much he loved his
sons. Steven, Christopher, David, your dad not just care about you, he loved you
with a passion the depth of which surprised him. He was so proud of you. As the
years went on, he shared with me his joy in your growth and in your
accomplishments.
Larry was a tease. The class went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. He never
stopped laughing. Everything in the restaurant was written in French. You see we
have laws about that in Montreal. Even our Spanish Mexican restaurants are
French. He never let me forget it.
He also teased me about our weather, often asking in mid-summer if it were
snowing and if we were having blizzards. He knew that our weather systems are
the same as yours, and he was just as distressed that my car didn't have air
conditioning. For several years he only came in November and April when it was
so cold and bleak. Larry loved flowers, so he was thrilled when he and Jan came
one July and found the city blanketed in flowers.
Larry revelled in everything that could grow - trees and flowers, students, friends,
relationships and mostly his sons.
After his diaconate many of us stayed on for a week, and he put us to work
planting tomatoes, and begonias, and dianasis, and many other flowers whose
names I do not know. Brother Luke and his friends from Florida and I worked hard
to bring life and beauty into his world.
Brother Luke, his high school Latin teacher, was very special to him. They teased
each other mercilessly. Along the way, Larry realized that Luke had become father-
figure and dear friend. Luke also loved Larry. I've spoken to him several times this


week and Luke shared his aching sorrow at Larry's death. He would be here today,
but at eighty-three, he finds it just too difficult to travel.
I return to that first day. The day was sprinkled with spirituality. It wasn't part of the
course. It just appeared here and there like flashes of Light. At the end of the day, I
mentioned I was going off to mass. His response was immediate. I was just going
to try to find a church. May I come with you? I took him to Notre Dame Basilica in
Old Montreal, and so the celebration of the Eucharist, praying together, became
part of our first day. It was to become an essential part of what we shared together,
for we became friends and went on to give over a dozen retreats together, both in
Montreal and at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Larry began his twenty years as a Marist brother at Poughkeepsie. He valued
those years, the sense of belonging, and ever after he hungered for a community
of prayer. He finally found that that sense of belonging, that community who
thought and questioned, and who prayed together, a group who desired God - in
the community of his brother deacons. Especially you, Dan, and the members of
his core group. You were very important to him. He told me how you walked with
him and talked with him, how you were so present on his journey to a renewed
service in the Church.
Larry did have an Irish temper, and sometimes it got in the way. Yet, Larry wanted
to know and love and serve God. Now his is with Jesus. As a Marist brother, as an
educator, husband, father, and friend, he was always generous. This is important.
All of you here, you are here because Larry was important to you. Somehow he
touched you. You felt his care, his love. Well know this: he is now before the face
of God, before the face of Truth, the face of Love. Do you think he has forgotten
you? No! God welcomes Larry with all the love in his heart, and God hears his
concerns for you and me, his friends. God hears his concerns for his family. So,
each of you, pay attention! Watch for the grace that God is sending you at Larry's
request. God acts through each of us on one another. God wants to grace us. God
wants to pour out his healing love on us. Watch for it!
I end with the words of the song we sang earlier: "He seeketh the Lord, and he
found the Lord, and now he truly knows - I have loved you with an everlasting love.
I have called you and you are mine."
Good bye dear friend. Now you know how much God loves you.