Vera Keck said people often ask her the secret to living beyond 100, and that frankly, she just doesn’t know. She eats three good meals a day and maybe a little candy in between.
“She’s sharp as a tack,” said Irwin, who is nationally known for his work in hand and finger dexterity. “I’ve been doing this hand fitness class at Westover each week for the past year, and Vera has never missed a class. She’s a delight.”
Keck lived at her marital home on New London Road until the age of 97 — that house was right next to the one she grew up in on a farm near the corner of New London and Ross-Hanover roads after her birth in 1919.
“In the winter, we used to ride a toboggan down New London from Ross Hanover to past where Badin High School is now,” Keck said.
She is a 1937 graduate of Notre Dame High in Hamilton — according to Mrs. Kim Graham, the alumni relations director at Badin, she is the oldest living Notre Dame graduate.
Keck and her husband, Clarence, had four children — a son, Bill Keck, a 1962 graduate of Hamilton Catholic High; and three girls, Linda Keck McGrath, 1966 from Notre Dame; Jo Ann Keck Roesch, 1970 from Badin; and Marian Keck Mayer, 1973 from Badin.
Keck noted that Linda was in the last graduating class from Notre Dame, and Jo Ann was in the first four-year class at Badin, which opened in the fall of 1966.
She has nine grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
Those who receive the “Shades of Green” Badin High School alumni newsletter will be able to read more on Keck in the next edition that publishes.
Information in this story came from Dirk Q. Allen and Badin High School.
About the Author