http://www.guelphmercury.com/community-story/6961320-remembering-guelph-s-rodney-keller/
Guelph Mercury
Each year, Woodlawn Memorial park chooses one veteran, whose contributions are highlighted during the cemetery’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony. This year the story told was still fresh, as Guelph’s Rodney Keller, who passed away in July, was honoured during the service.
Keller, who worked for the City of Guelph as general manager of operations, served in the Canadian military for 26 years.
His story, written by Susan Farrelly, and read out during the ceremony by cemetery general manager Paul Taylor, in many ways sounded like that of a typical military family.
“Loving husband and father to three children, Rod was hard-working, conscientious, community-minded, and believed strongly in looking after people and doing the right thing,” Taylor told the more than 100 people who had gathered in the veterans area of the cemetery for the service.
Keller joined army cadets as a teenager and went on to become a competitive shooter.
His experience with cadets led him into the Royal Military College, which was the start of his military career.
After graduating in 1989 with a civil engineering degree, he began the four years of military service that would ensure his schooling would be paid for.
He spent a year in Chlliwack, B.C., two years in Gagetown, N.B., then two years in England.
While home for a visit, he proposed to Laura Sharpe, a woman he had met in high school and had reconnected with.
They married in Guelph in 1995, but soon left the city for Alberta when Keller was stationed at CFB Edmonton.
Taylor quoted Laura Keller, saying she had been reluctant to make the move because of the weather, but Rod had told her it would only be for about a year.
Shortly after the move, the base Keller was to be posted at in Chilliwack closed. “We lived in Edmonton for 10 years,” Taylor said, quoting Laura again.
The couple’s three children were born in Edmonton, but during this time, Keller served a tour in Bosnia, completed a couple of six-month training courses in Kingston, and was part of the first deployment to Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“There was a sense of true brotherhood that developed while serving on this tour,” Taylor said, adding “there was no mistaking that this was an actual war compared to the peacekeeping missions previously.”
He came home 'extremely grateful' to live in Canada
He also highlighted the reaction Keller and his fellow soldiers received when they returned home to Edmonton, where their route from the airport to the base was lined by people holding yellow ribbons.
“They had no idea how much Canadians were being impacted by this war and that they had cared so much about their military,” Taylor said. “Rod came home from tours extremely grateful for where he lived.”
The next few years brought a few moves, as Keller was stationed in Ottawa, then Toronto, then back to Alberta.
Eventually, the family’s search for a more permanent home led them back to Guelph, where Keller took a job with the city after retiring from the military in 2011.
An avid golfer, it was on the golf course that suffered a heart attack in July at the age of 49.
“He was never happier than on a golf course,” Taylor said, again quoting Laura. “So it was fitting that he spend his final moments at his much loved country club.”
The tribute to Keller made up a significant portion of the Woodlawn service. It was followed by a traditional moment of silence, wreath laying and prayers.
Afterwards, most of those present took the time to lay a poppy on the grave of a veteran or on one of the wreaths. Many also stopped to walk through the cemetery grounds and see the graves of the many veterans buried there.
