John C. Keilman, 78, of Sparks, Nevada died peacefully at his home, Saturday, May 28, 2022. He lost his battle with Amylodosis (a rare blood cancer) after a six-year struggle. He never gave up his brave fight. A celebration of life will be held June 17 at 1 p.m. at Spanish Springs Presbyterian Church, 4884 Sparks Boulevard, Suite 102 in Sparks, Nevada. There will be a reception following the service.
John was born in Monmouth, Illinois on Feb. 23, 1944. In his early youth, John and his family moved to a farm in Quincy, Washington. He graduated from Quincy High School in 1962. Following high school, John attended Washington State University where he earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1966. His first job was working for the Navy in Torpedo Propulsion Systems. In 1968, he graduated from USC with a M.S. degree in mechanical engineering. He moved to Kent, Washington and worked one year for the Boeing Company in the missile division.
John and his wife Kareen were married Dec. 21, 1968. Soon after their marriage, John and Kareen moved to Livermore, California where John started work at Sandia National Labs. He largely worked on classified projects for 25 years and earned the Sandia DMTS award (profound influence on design, analysis and safety of gas transfer systems) in 1990. John retired in 1995.
He loved to work with wood, making projects such as the buffet, grandmother and wall clocks, a vertical chess board, picture frames for Kareen’s mosaic crafts and other wood projects for their home. He was also an avid RC model airplane builder and flyer. While in Livermore, John and Kareen bought land for a future home and small farm. Together, they built all the outbuildings, then wisely saved their marriage with the hiring of a contractor to build their new home. They raised and sold horse hay. John drove the tractors (a fun project), baled and picked up the bales (not so fun) and together sold and delivered the bales (fun). John was a member of the Reno-Sparks Control Liners (RC airplanes) and a member of the Spanish Springs Presbyterian Church.
John is survived by his wife, Kareen of 53 years; daughter, Heidi (Jim) and two grandchildren of Chester, California; brother, Tom (Barb) of Moses Lake, Washington; sister Susan (Scott) of Forks, Washington; brother George (Ellen) of Bellingham, Washington; four nieces, two nephews and many cousins. He was preceded in death by one son, David, of Livermore, California and his parents, John and Harriet Keilman of Sequim, Washington. In lieu of sending flowers, donations would be appreciated and can be made to the Eddie House (home, guidance and schooling for homeless older children), 888 Willow Street, Reno, Nevada 89502 or to the Spanish Springs Presbyterian Church.
