Joseph Fackler Keener Jr. ’52

Joseph Fackler Keener Jr. ’52 of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, passed away on October 28, 2010. He was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, his home before college. He came to Dartmouth from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. At Dartmouth he majored in government and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. During the Korean War he was an Army staff sergeant in Germany. After his discharge he earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. A prominent Philadelphia attorney, Joe spent his entire career in the area, first serving as a public defender and then practicing at various firms before being hired in 1972 by the Southeastern Transportation Authority, where he ultimately became general counsel, leading that organization’s legal department until 1986. He continued to be active in the profession, working for Labrum & Doak and in private practice and teaching paralegal school well into his 70s. He is survived by his sister Kathryn, sons Jim, Stew and Tad, three grandchildren and his former wife, Virginia. An accomplished tennis player, Joe had been a member of the Philadelphia Country Club, The Courts and Martin’s Dam and competed in national and international senior tournaments while in his 70s. An uncommonly devoted and supportive father, Joe coached Pennsylvania state champion youth soccer teams in Gladwyne in the late 1970s.