From a short-lived stint as a jockey to post-World War II consulate work in Germany to becoming the unofficial “queen of the cul-de-sac” in her north Loveland neighborhood, Kay Egger O’Keefe’s life has followed a path as varied as it is extraordinary.
Now that path is approaching a rare milestone. On Christmas Eve, O’Keefe will celebrate her 105th birthday, surrounded by family and neighbors in the Loveland home she has lived in since 1983.
And while she doesn’t have any secrets to longevity, O’Keefe has plenty of advice for making a fulfilling life, no matter how many years it lasts.
“Enjoy the things that are there to be enjoyed and try to overcome the things that aren’t so enjoyable,” she said. “Trust in God and a little wine doesn’t hurt.”
South Dakota childhood
O’Keefe was born on Dec. 24, 1920, in Deadwood, South Dakota, the sixth of eight children. Her younger sister, Mary Schere, now 92, is the only other surviving sibling.
She grew up on the family’s cattle ranch east of Sturgis, and, by age nine, was helping tend her family’s herd. She got to the local country school by horse-drawn wagon, before transferring to a nearby Catholic boarding school as a day student.
“The nuns there ran a pretty tight ship,” O’Keefe recalled. “But I got a very good high school education.”
One moment from her childhood still makes her smile. At the county fair one year, O’Keefe and her beloved racehorse Bobby Doyle signed up to compete in the ladies competition, where she faced two other competitors.
“The other two showed up with racing silks, and I had on overalls and a plaid shirt,” she recalled. “But I had Bobby Doyle.”
It turned out that wasn’t enough. When the race began, the other riders urged their horses forward with whips — something O’Keefe refused to do.
“I couldn’t hit that lovely horse, so I came in third,” she said. “And that was the end of my racing career.”
Paris and beyond
After graduating, O’Keefe put her education to use as an accountant in Deadwood, but South Dakota was never meant to be her final stop. When her mother once remarked that the road they were walking could take her as far as Chicago, O’Keefe had a different destination in mind.
“I thought ‘Chicago? I don’t want to go there. I want to go to Paris,’” O’Keefe recalled. “And I did.”
When World War II ended, she headed to Washington, D.C., and joined the U.S. State Department as part of its effort to reopen American consulates in Germany.
She was assigned to Munich, where she served as administrative assistant to the consul general during the earliest days of postwar reconstruction. Her work placed her close to the immense human task of reintegrating people displaced by the war.
“They just went from being in concentration camps to being in displaced persons camps,” O’Keefe said. “But of course, they were treated quite differently, much better.”
She also took a tour of Dachau, seeing firsthand the remnants of one of the most brutal of those concentration camps.
But amid that serious work were moments of levity. O’Keefe was often a guest at meals and gatherings hosted by her boss at the consulate, Sam E. Woods, and his wife, Wilhelmina — an heiress to the Anheuser-Busch brewing fortune — who were known for their generous hospitality.
“They would send the Rolls Royce for me, and I’d go out to the castle and have lunch or dinner,” O’Keefe said. “They were very good to me and they were both lovely people.”
The consulate posting also gave O’Keefe the chance to meet American dignitaries such as Charles Lindbergh and travel extensively throughout Europe, including several times to Paris. On another trip, this time to Rome, O’Keefe was granted a private audience with Pope Pius XII, a moment that deepened her lifelong Catholic faith.
“Of course, he came under a lot of criticism for the way he handled the Jewish people in Italy,” she said. “But he did what he could and he was a lovely man.”
During this period, she also met a young Air Force pilot named Bill O’Keefe, an Illinois native who had flown reconnaissance missions over Germany during the war. Within a few months, he was eager to get married and return to the United States, but his bride-to-be wasn’t ready to leave what she described as “the best job.”
“So we didn’t get married until 1951,” she said. “I had been transferred to Australia, but I first came back to Sturgis to see my family. My soon-to-be husband was stationed in Rapid City. He met my plane, and I never got to Australia.”
An Air Force wife
After marrying, the O’Keefes settled back in the United States, first in Rome, New York, where their oldest son, Michael, was born. The family later returned to Germany for several years, welcoming a second son, Keenan. Their third son, Patrick, was born after another move back to New York.
Bill O’Keefe retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1963 and went on to work in military intelligence in Dayton, Ohio, a position that involved what Kay O’Keefe described as “top secret” work. The family would make Dayton their home for the next two decades.
The move to Northern Colorado came in the early 1980s, after Michael enrolled at Colorado State University. When suitable housing proved hard to find in Fort Collins, the family looked a bit farther south and settled in Loveland, in a neighborhood near West 43rd Street. O’Keefe has lived there ever since — and still does, on her own.
Along the way, O’Keefe found creative outlets that would become defining parts of her life.
Though she never held a formal art degree, she became an art teacher and later an accomplished artist, working in painting, collage and sculpture. Her work was exhibited and awarded, and family members still speak with admiration about her talent and eye for detail.
Her creativity extended well beyond the canvas. Friends and relatives rave about her cooking and her skill with a needle — whether sewing clothes for her family or spending decades embroidering an intricate holiday tablecloth that remains a centerpiece at Christmas.
“She is just amazing in so many ways,” said her son Keenan O’Keefe.
She was also deeply committed to volunteer work, dating back to her time in South Dakota, when she served as a Red Cross nurse’s aid. Over the years, Kay O’Keefe also gave her time to her church, her children’s schools and a range of community organizations, including Visit Loveland, where she volunteered for a decade and continued working well into her 90s, until she was forced to give up driving.
“If you want a fun volunteer job, go to Visit Loveland,” she said with a laugh.
‘A lot of good times’
Life has slowed for O’Keefe in recent years, but not stopped. The soon-to-be semi-supercentenarian remains fiercely independent, supported by a close-knit circle of “wonderful” neighbors who check in regularly and have become like family.
“We’ve had a lot of good times,” said Kathryn Gibbs, who moved next door to the O’Keefes a month after they settled in Loveland. “And a lot of good happy hours.”
Because she isn’t as mobile, O’Keefe spends much of her time watching westerns on television — unless it’s Sunday, when she turns her attention to the Denver Broncos, often adding her own commentary to the action on the field. This season, she has been especially vocal, as the Broncos have pulled off several last-second victories.
“She definitely talks to the TV,” said Bette O’Keefe, Kay’s daughter-in-law. “A few weeks ago, she didn’t stop talking the whole game, telling the TV she was mad.”
O’Keefe also attended Peyton Manning’s first game as a Bronco, a moment she still recalls with delight.
Her faith remains another constant. A lifelong Catholic, O’Keefe said it has helped steady her through both joyful and painful chapters of her life. She lost her husband, Bill, in 2001, and her oldest son, Michael, in 2020.
Even so, she continues to find comfort in prayer and routine. Though she now watches Mass on television most weeks, O’Keefe said she hopes to attend Christmas Mass in person this year, a meaningful goal as she prepares to celebrate her birthday on Christmas Eve.
“Through the years, my faith and trust in God has gotten me over the rough spots,” she said. “And there have been a few, just like there is in everyone’s life.”
For her family, that perspective puts the milestone into focus.
“She’s had 105 years of an amazing life,” her son said. “And I’m grateful that she’s still here.”
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