Farewell, Brother Keith Landon

Longtime Bloomington 7^th Ward member Keith Vernon Landon passed from mortality in the early morning hours of Thursday, August 16, 2012, at his Bloomington home. 

He was just four months short of his 99th birthday and, although he was unable - due to his failing health - to attend church for the past year or two, he nevertheless, departed this life with his testimony burning brightly!

Members of the Bloomington 7^th Ward only knew Keith as a retiree who loved golf, gardening, mechanics and maintaining his beautiful home in prime condition, but for more than 30 years he and his wife Ruth lived in Covina, California where he first sold real estate, then worked as a department manager at Douglas Aircraft, before accepting the manager position of a large and very popular restaurant in Pasadena, California. 

As a child, Keith’s father developed painful rheumatoid arthritis which, for a time, made him bedridden.  When he was finally able to work, he took a job outdoors along the shore of a beautiful lake – which made for an idyllic childhood for Keith and resulted in a lifelong love of lakes.

Religion always played a part in his life.  In his youth, the family lived across from the Glenwood Baptist Church.  His father was very religious and very involved in evangelical activities.  Speakers scheduled for the church’s tent meetings would frequently stay with the Landon family, including Billy Sunday, the most celebrated and influential American evangelist of the 1920’s.

Keith met Ruth Aiken, his wife of 54 years when she came into the restaurant seeking a position as a hostess/cashier.  She got the job!  Their marriage in 1958 created a blended family including his son Berl, her daughter Diane and later, their two sons, James and Scott.

As a result of Ruth’s missionary zeal, Keith joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1962.  He was ever grateful to her for that decision and was a faithful member to the end of his life. He served in many capacities and in numerous callings, including scouting, High Priest Group Leader, a counselor in the Elders Quorum and Sunday School and as a genealogy coordinator, but his favorite calling was working in the baptistry of the St. George Temple where he always said he felt “a tangible spirit of love.”

Keith’s kind and gentle demeanor, strong work ethic, dapper good looks, love of home and family and devotion to Ruth and his faith, will be long remembered by his neighbors and friends.