Sundowner Tractor Mourns The Death of Our Friend: James (Jimmy Keeter) WelchNovember 5, 1946-February 5, 2013

The flag at Sundowner Tractor is flying at half-staff in memory of our beloved friend and mechanic, Jimmy Keeter. We had worked with Jimmy for 13 years. He was like a member of our family and we loved him. Jimmy passed away Tuesday, February 5, 2013 after a short illness. This was the only time Jimmy ever missed work.

We remember his laugh and we remember his growl. We remember the pride in his eyes when he started an engine he had just built. He would say, “Ron, come listen to this one run!” Sometimes he wouldn’t even bother to put the engine back in the tractor to start it. He liked to amaze us by starting the engine and letting it run on the engine stand. Jimmy was a highly intelligent and able mechanic and an excellent welder. He loved to create, manufacture, modify, fabricate and weld to make the impossible possible. He loved to work on old things. He had forgotten more about mechanics than a lot of mechanics ever knew. If you had an engine built by Jimmy Keeter, you really had something. Jimmy started his career as a mechanic in 1965 as a Navy Mechanic during the Viet Nam war. He was proud of his service to his country.

Jimmy was gruff but he was great with animals—he had a real, honest and true spirit of love for animals and it showed in the tricks he taught his dog JJ, his best friend. You never saw Jimmy without JJ. And how he and JJ loved to play ball! People would come over just for the chance to watch Jimmy and JJ play ball. Jimmy and JJ shared everything. They even shared their lunch –which was the same thing, every day-- a hamburger, French fries and a bottle of milk. JJ stayed with Jimmy until the very end—never leaving Jimmy’s side.

Jimmy loved children and he loved to teach. From the time Damien was old enough to walk, Jimmy would set Damien up on the seat of a tractor and “teach” Damien how to fix the tractors. There may not have been a lot of learning done, but they had a great time solving the world’s problems. Jimmy loved Damien (who he fondly called “Boy”) and Damien loved Jimmy.

Jimmy had a great sense of humor. Once when he was working on a tractor, he hit himself in the head with a wrench and gave himself a black eye. The next morning, he stopped at the store for coffee and he told everyone in the store that Shelley had hit him in the eye when he asked for a raise. When Shelley asked him later why he had done that, Jimmy said laughing, “Well I thought we oughta have a little fun with it!”

Jimmy was a loyal man. Although he was kind of a loner, he had his special group of friends who he hung out with often. He loved us and we loved him. And we were honored to be his friend. A huge, kind, hard-headed, loving, contrary, golden, aggravating, cantankerous, wonderful heart stopped beating. Our friend Jim is gone. And we will miss him forever.