Remembering my Daddy.
My Daddy passed away on April 1st, 2022. Of course, he passed on April 1st at 11:35PM, but his death wasn’t recorded until after midnight.. so officially he passed on April 2nd, his Mama’s birthday. She passed before I was born, and her death colored so much of the rest my Daddy’s life. I like to think that she was as happy to gain him back, as we were sad to lose him. The thought of her joy in seeing him again eases the sting just a little. You got her the perfect birthday present, old man.
After Kyle’s accident in January on the job with Dad, life got hard fast. If that weren’t enough to manage, my Dad began to take a sharp downturn. Dad had melanoma which we had known about for a while, but he’d asked us to keep it private.
My Dad was my other half. As much as we argued and debated, nobody understood me the way that he did. He was my kids favorite person in the world. His marks are all over my home, the wall that he put up for my daughter and the picnic table he built me for my birthday just last year.
We didn’t have enough time to say goodbye. I didn’t have enough time to spend with him in good health after Kyle’s injury. The whole thing has been too much to handle most of the time.
All that to say, i’m grateful that I took a bunch of pictures of him even though he hated when I did it. He was only 60. He was strong, like physically strong. He was loads of fun. He was at my house all the time just to hang out or play with the kids. The idea of not ever seeing his car pull in to my driveway on a Friday afternoon for football and ice cream again brings me to my knees.
He wanted me to have his Granddad’s desk, which I just got moved in to my house. He worked hard, his Granddad worked hard, and I believe that the desk will help give me the power to catch-up and overcome the absolute tragedy that life has been the past few months.
So here are some pictures of him. Flawed like me, caring, spontaneous, brilliant. My Dad. One of a kind.
Keith Phillip Heery (60) of Hendersonville, NC (originally from Vero Beach, FL) passed away on April 2nd, 2022 peacefully at home with his family after a stubborn fight with cancer. Keith was preceded in death by his parents Ken and Karron Heery. He is survived by his wife Kim Edney Heery, his son Sawyer Heery, his daughter Taylor Heery, husband Kyle Griffith and children Hiram and Margeaux, his sisters Kathy Heery Proctor, husband Brian, Kelly Heery Smith, husband Scott and several nieces and nephews. Trying to sum up Keith’s life in something as short as an obituary is an impossible task. It would take volumes to document the wonderfully colorful life that Keith lived. Born and raised in Florida, Keith was the biggest Florida Gator fan that anybody could ever meet. He spent his youth attending games with his family and later passed the obsession on to his own family. His family moved to Hendersonville in 1978. He attended East Henderson High School where he made some of his first friends in the area. His strength grew from the First Baptist Church weight room into a lifelong dedication to fitness and perseverance. Being a Floridian in the mountains was not always an easy task for the Florida boy in flip flops, but as time went on, he grew to love hiking in the woods, the work-ethic of his fellow carpenter friends and the beautiful mountain sunrises and sunsets. Keith and his wife, Kim Heery were married on June 28th, 1986. They and their two children were a close-knit unit the whole way through. Keith would regularly pack the family up for a spontaneous trip to Florida to see the Gators play. They saw final fours, championships and plenty of losses too. An avid NASCAR fan, many weekends were also spent at the races or watching them on tv. Keith’s devotion to the things that he loved most in life was one of the things that set him apart as an extraordinary individual. A masterful carpenter, there wasn’t a house that he couldn’t build or a problem that he couldn’t fix! Never has a man been able to do equations so quickly and somehow never be wrong. His career as a carpenter impacted hundreds of families in the WNC area, and his craftsman’s mark on the town of Hendersonville is visible at nearly every turn. Keith loved the Lord, his family, and his friends so deeply and never hesitated to make it known to them, giving generously to those who needed it. Keith’s born role was actually to be a Granddad. In 2013, Keith became a Granddad to Hiram Glen after his daughter Taylor and son-in-law Kyle had their first son, and then again in 2015 when their daughter Margeaux Rose was born. Keith was a big kid that never grew up. Being the most fun-loving person around, he was perfectly equipped to be a Granddad. Anyone that spoke to him wouldn’t make it long in a conversation without him mentioning his family, especially his Grandkids. He spent lots of time taking them on outings to get toys or ice cream and a lot of money on spray paint: the kids favorite activity. While it always seems like too soon when we lose someone that we love, we know that Keith lived more in his 60 years than most people could in 5 lifetimes. His capacity for enjoyment, love and laughter were one-in-a-million. He leaves behind a family that can’t imagine life without him but is equally and wholly grateful for the time that they did get to spend together. God is sovereign, and we know that he will be so welcomed in Heaven by the Heavenly Father and those that got there before him. We will all miss him dearly and tell stories about his life until we reach the ends of our own. As Keith would say, “Hey stud, it’s all just something to do……Go Gators!!”
