Lewis 'Lew' Keim, 80

Lewis "Lew" Keim, died at his residence in Whitefish on Friday, April 22, 2011. 

He was 80 years old.

Lew married Carol on Dec. 29, 1953, in Great Falls. For a number of winters, Lew and Carol resided in Tucson, Ariz., and were very active in the Skyline Country Club.

Although born in Chicago in 1930, Lewis became a Montanan at the age of four months when his native Montana parents moved back to Missoula because of consequences of the Depression. He attended grade school and his freshman high school year in Missoula. His family moved to Kalispell in 1945 and Lew attended Flathead County High School where he was very active in sports and student activities, including being a delegate to Boys State, editing the student newspaper and graduating as a National Merit Scholar.

He was a 1953 graduate of University of Montana's School of Journalism. At UM he was a Sigma Nu, editor of the student daily newspaper - the Montana Kaimin - and a member of Silent Sentinel, the senior men's honorary society. Over his lifetime, Lew continued a strong relationship with the university. He became a member of the Alum Association's House of Delegates, a lifetime member of the Alum Association, a trustee of the UM Foundation, a member of President's Advisory Council and a member and long-term director of the Grizzly Riders.

Upon retirement in 1996, he and Carol moved to Whitefish and Lew renewed his relationship with Trout Unlimited as a director of the Flathead Chapter, received a governor's appointment to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality Advisory Council and Trout Unlimited's Montana Stewardship Council. He was also director of the Flathead Lakers, a director of St. Matthew's parish capital campaign and raised funds for Kalispell Regional Medical Center's ALERT helicopter emergency program.

Lew retired from Gates Corporation as a vice president of corporate public relations. He joined Gates at its world headquarters in Denver in 1985 after 23 years with Burson-Marsteller, the world's largest public relations firm. He was with that firm in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Denver where he had been a senior vice president, a member of the executive board, managing director of B-M Canada and general manager of the firm's Pittsburgh and Denver offices. Over the years at B-M, his clients included Clark Equipment, Rockwell International, Massey-Ferguson, Westinghouse, Mellon Bank, U.S. Steel, L.B. Foster, Mountain Bell, Storage Technology and Siemens.

His professional background also included reporting for the Spokane Chronicle, capitol correspondent for United Press International at Helena, public relations director for the Montana Chamber of Commerce and public relations staff at Allis-Chalmers in Milwaukee.

At Gates, Lew was responsible for direction and execution of management communications, public affairs and government relations, media relations, corporate philanthropy, community relations and employee communications. He was a member of board of management and very active in Denver and Colorado organizations on behalf of Gates, including Denver Public Schools Foundation as a founding trustee; Colorado Public Affairs Council as a trustee, vice chairman and chairman; Public Affairs Council of Colorado School of Mines; Colorado State University, President's Public Relations Advisory Council; Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry's board of directors, Colorado Cancer League board; Interscape 25 board; Platte River Advisory Board; Denver Convention and Visitors Board; Denver Chamber of Commerce Sports Committee; Denver Organizing Committee PR Director for 1988 NCAA Regional tournament and same for 1990 NCAA Final Four tournament in Denver; vice chairman of the successful statewide Great Outdoors Colorado general election ballot campaign; and Colorado Trout Unlimited Director and executive committee.

Among national organizations, he was a member of the National Association of Manufacturers' public affairs steering committee and Western region vice chairman; Western region Advisory Council; American Arbitration Association; national director at large, chairman, national communications committee and executive committee of Trout Unlimited.

He also had a long association with the Public Relations Society of America. He had been a member of the Chicago, Pittsburgh and Colorado chapters; the Public Relations Advisory Council at Kent State University, a director in Pittsburgh and Denver, a past national chairman of its Education Committee and recipient of the Colorado Chapter's Lifetime Achievement Award, and a two-time winner of PRSA's Silver Anvil national award, the second for his direction of Colorado statewide and national campaign, "Why Two Forks," to prevent a dam on the South Platte River. He was a trustee and a past president of the Silver Trout Foundation, a Colorado and Rocky Mountain States grant funding organization.

Lew is survived by his wife, Carol Keim; daughters, Kelly Keim of Stanford, Kathlyn Keim-Robinson and Jennifer Fortson of Portland, Ore., Mary Frame of Mt. Pleasant, Mich., and Karin Padalino of Centennial, Colo.; 10 grandchildren, Claire and Mary Mikeson of Stanford, Jordan Miles and Camille Robinson, of Portland, Ore., Ryan Maisenbacher of Columbus, Ohio, Kristen Maisenbacher of Portland, Ore., Andrew and Carrie Frame of Mt. Pleasant, Mich., and Jack Wise of Highlands Ranch, Colo.; two step-grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m., Thursday, April 28, 2011, at St. Matthew's Catholic Church, 601 Sixth Ave., Kalispell.

Interment will be held at C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery.

Austin Funeral Home is caring for the family. The public may go to www.austinfh.com to offer condolences and view Lew's tribute wall.