FORT MILL, SC ~ Edward Francis O'Keefe age 83 died on March 10, 2022, at his home in Fort Mill, South Carolina. He leaves behind his beloved wife, Marilyn, his four children and their spouses and seven grandchildren. They are Elizabeth Dobens (Len), Brian O'Keefe (Pam), Edward O'Keefe, Jr. (Debbi) and Eugene O'Keefe. His grandchildren are Alex, Lenny, Laura, Emily, Evan, Evelyn and Allie.

Ed was born on May 10, 1938, in the Bronx, New York and, no matter where he traveled, his booming Bronx drawl followed him.  If not, he was sure to educate them on his Yankee origins.  He lost his father, Edward, when very young and was raised by his mother, Annabelle Martin, and her sister, Genevieve Thompson, who was also widowed. Together they raised Edward and his cousin, James Doran with lots of love, food (chicken wings and meatballs) and determination. He liked to regale his children with stories of running wild on the streets of the Bronx and playing endless basketball and stickball games with his friends.

However, Annabelle and Genevieve were driven to raise their two sons so that they had the opportunities at higher education that their generation did not. Ed did not disappoint his mother and aunt about achieving a good education. He managed to graduate from Iona Prep, Fordham University, and Fordham Law School class of 1963, 2nd in his class. Upon graduation from law school, he honored his ROTC duties and entered the United States Air Force as a lawyer with the rank of captain.

After his service in the Air Force, Ed had a distinguished twenty-year career as a senior attorney for Exxon Corporation. Throughout his career at Exxon, he was transferred every two years, taking on a variety of legal and business assignments. The family moved back and forth from New York, Texas, and North Carolina. In 1985, Ed, tired of commuting, decided to retire from Exxon and settle down in New York, even if that meant an end to his "business trips" to prestigious golf resorts around the world. He would need to visit the courses on his own.

At fifty years old, Ed launched "Golfing Gems", his concept of a film production company, that made videos of Irish golf courses so that golf enthusiasts could see the courses they hoped to play someday. His first project was with the golf pro for the Ballybunion golf course. Ed captured beautiful aerial visuals of the course and included instructional pointers from the course's golf pro, while Brian, his son, and the pro played the holes. Ed moved on from filming golf to his real passion, playing golf with his friends at Whippoorwill club.

Ed had some talent at investing in the market, and so in his retirement years he was able to travel with his wife and family and have fun thinking up ways to have more fun.  He was one of the few people who liked to negotiate with car salespeople. He found food trucks and pizza parlors to eat lunch where he scratched bingo cards. He was a lover of reading books and he read a lot, especially in the bathtub.  If he passed on a good book to someone, it usually was waterlogged. He was a happy man who liked talking to people. When ordering from his catalogues, he would always ask the service person on the phone where they were from.

Ed (Popcorn, as affectionately known by his grandchildren) loved life and he shared his dreams and accomplishments generously with his family.  He loved amusement parks, especially roller coasters, Presidential historical sites, National Parks, the Yankees, the Giants, Notre Dame football, blueberry pie and the Republican Party. All of his children and grandchildren were introduced to zero gravity because of him.  They have memories of climbing pyramids in Mexico, surviving a South Dakotan rainstorm in the World's Only Corn Palace, trips in his go-kart and jumping on beds in an Irish castle.  Ed will be missed and mourned because it is hard to lose someone who embraces so enthusiastically the joy of adventure, shared laughter, and most of all family.

Mr. O'Keefe will have a funeral mass at St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus in Briarcliff, NY at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 21st.  Burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY will follow. In lieu of flowers, consider donating to your local Knights of Columbus or St. Jude's Children's Hospital.