Past APCO International President Jack Keating passed away on Friday, Feb. 15, at the age of 72 due to complications associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Keating retired from a 20-year career in the Coast Guard to take an open position as the communications director for the City of West Covina (Calif.) Communications Department. He joined APCO on Feb. 8, 1977. Before his election to the APCO International Board of Officers in 1995, Keating was very active in CPRA (APCO’s Southern California Chapter) for many years. He was president of CPRA in 1991. He served as conference chair for the Western States Regional Conference held in Anaheim in 1994. And he was a member of the APCO Regional Conference Manual Review Task Force and served as chair of the Activities and Membership Committee from 1988–1991.

Keating served a term as the association’s president from 1998–1999 and was honored with Life Membership at the APCO International Conference & Expo in 1999.

Following his retirement from the City of Covina, he and his family moved to Williamsburg, Va., and Keating remained active with Virginia APCO.

Current APCO International President Terry Hall recently had a chance to visit with Keating in his home. “I was humbled to be in the presence of APCO greatness,” says Hall. “He will be sorely missed.”

Joe L. Hanna, who succeeded Keating as APCO president, says, “On the surface, Jack was a quiet guy, not one who wanted to be center stage, but he was a man of strong beliefs.”

According to Hanna, Keating was a proponent of partnerships and began efforts to forge a closer relationship with NENA.

“Jack was a very gentlemanly person,” says Gary Gray (APCO past president, 1988–1989). “He was very outspoken. He was also very careful not to do things that would waste money that would come out of dispatchers’ pockets. He was that committed to not taking advantage of people. He was very sensitive.”

“I’ve known Jack and his wife, Donna, for many years,” says APCO 2nd Vice President John Wright. “He was a real advocate for APCO and for public safety. He lived and breathed for the association and seemed to have the time of his life as president. He couldn’t do enough for public safety, and that always impressed me. He was a great friend and a mentor.”

“He was a great person; always willing to lend a helping hand or explain in detail when one was not sure of what was being requested,” says APCO Life Member Helen Rushing. “He was especially patient with those of us who were not well versed in the technology fields.”

Keating is survived by his wife of 52 years, Donna; his daughter, Kristen; his son, Terry; his daughter-in-law, Catriona; and his granddaughter, Gillian.

A memorial service will be held March 2, 2013, at 2 p.m. at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 1333 Jamestown Rd., Williamsburg, VA 23185. Cremation is being arranged by Bucktrout Funeral Home, and a burial will be held in Winthrop, Mass. Donations in memory of Jack Keating can be made to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 1333 Jamestown Rd., Williamsburg, VA 23185 or to the Lions Clubs International Foundation, 300 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook, IL 60523-8842. Online condolences may be offered at www.bucktroutfuneralhome.net.

For additional information, view the obituary published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.