Our patriarch, hero, and friend, Nathan “Buddy” Keith, 73, closed his eyes and passed in grace on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. He was shepherded into heaven by his grandmother Mary Jane, mother Lillian, Aunt Becky and his wife Gloria.

As a young man growing up in Akron, Ohio, Buddy was known for his brute physical strength as well as for his strength of character.  His ministry was keeping a stoic watch over those he loved which made him a “superhero” in the eyes of his nieces and nephews.  After graduating from East High School, he married Gloria Jean Wright, worked and retired from LTV Steel in Massillon and spent 20 Christmas Eves delivering presents to hundreds of children as the “Eastside Santa.” He used his passion for football to mentor young men as a coach for the East Dragon PeeWee and Hoban High School football programs but found time to take his boat out on to Berlin Lake where the fish size in his ‘big catch’ story never changed.

However, sharing his life with Gloria and raising their sons, was his greatest joy and when the grandbabies came, Buddy was “all in” and got busy educating them from the books of Doo Wop, Motown and R&B.  Buddy’s love for music and being a champion for those in need is deeply rooted in the souls of his sons, grandchildren, and so many others.  He also enjoyed traveling the country by motorcycle, creating works of art on paper, on wood, and on his guitar. He especially cherished the time spent singing in the choir with his wife at Greater Bethel Baptist Church. He truly led a purpose-driven life.

Preceded in death by his wife Gloria earlier this year, Buddy is survived by his sons, Nathan (Willa) and Ernest ‘Erne’ Keith; brother, James Hollimion (Patricia); sisters, Renee Keith Curry and Anita Burton, aunt Helen Lopp; grandsons, Nathan III, and Ethan Keith; granddaughters, Telayne Keith and Daysha Lawrence (Jamel) and great-grandson, Maxwell Lawrence.  He will also be missed by his brother-in-law Albert Wright (Julie), sisters-in-law Linda Bray (Rasheed), Sheila Wright-Grier, and Charlene Wright; nephews Markus (Nicole), Tommy (Liza), Myron and Tyrell Burton, Jamie Hollimion (Vanessa), Timothy and Ernest Wright (Julia); nieces Dehevelin, Terita, and Rica Keith, Vanetta Ayers, Chasity, Ebony, Tonisha, Temperance, Leah and Bethany Wright, Lanetta Reed, Roianne Fisher, Natalie Holman, Carella Blue, Leslie Powe, Mildred Pearson, and a host of family and friends.