Robert Keehn

Robert "Bob" Barry Keehn, 84, of Mehoopany passed away peacefully Sunday, July 21, 2024, at home.

Born on June 15, 1940, in Birdsboro, Pa., he is the son of the late John Keehn and Anna (Buchanan) Riddle and adopted father William Riddle.

He was a graduate of Henderson High School in West Chester, Pa and went on to serve his country with honor in the United States Airforce.

Bob dedicated many years to Johnson Matthey Inc. in Malvern, Pa, before relocating to Newport Beach, Calif., in the late 1980s to work for PGP Industries Inc. as a department manager.

He made many friends and happy memories in California that he continued to speak fondly of in his later years.

In 2004, he returned to Pennsylvania, choosing to retire to a small home at the river's edge, in a tiny village he'd only visited once before. He knew only that the fishing was good and the people were warm - and that was enough for Bob to call Mehoopany home. He found friends here who would go on to become like family.

His Monday thru Friday turned into Sunday (road trips) thru Thursday (poker), with as much fishing as the river would allow in between. Bob was living his dream.

Whether he needed a ride to an appointment after his eyesight failed or his home to be rebuilt from scratch after a flood - help, here, was only ever a phone call away.

Over the last year, as his health declined, Bob's friends doubled their efforts to give him the normalcy he desperately needed. They kept up their road trips. Poker still took place almost every week. He even got to fish one last time, in June. Lilian Whiting said, "To be rich in friends is to be poor in nothing." If so, Bob was the richest man in the world.

A diehard Phillies and Eagles fan, Bob's favorite teams sometimes gave him great joy but more often gave him heartburn and yet he still believed that this year could be the year. Opening day was his Christmas morning.

Bob was formidable in the kitchen, always eager to try out a new recipe. He loved a fish fry, a clam bake, he turned everything into jerky.

He was a proud member of American Legion Black Walnut Post 510 and the Towanda Gun Club.

He is survived by daughters, Missy Ritti and husband Edward, Chrissy Brandt and their mother, Barbara Keehn; grandchildren, Ethan and Emerson Brandt, and Owen and Sam Ritti.

Although we miss him terribly, we are relieved he is now at peace.

Take a big, deep breath Dad. You've earned it.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by brother, Gerald Keehn, and his sisters, Barbara Ayers and Linda Lou Lane.

Funeral services will be held privately.

Arrangements and care entrusted to Sheldon-Kukuchka Funeral Home, 73 W. Tioga St., Tunkhannock, PA 18657.