Edmund George DeKeater

Edmund George "Ed" DeKeater, 86, of Grants Pass died March 29, 2009, at Three Rivers Community Hospital of heart failure. Private services will be held. Contributions may be made to Reinhart Volunteer Park, P.O. Box 443, Grants Pass, OR 97528. DeKeater was born June 10, 1922, in Portland, where he was raised. After graduating from Grant High School in Portland, he attended the University of Oregon and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Upon completion of his freshman year, he joined the Navy and served four years in the Pacific aboard the destroyer USS Capperton as a radio/radar operator. After World War II, he returned to the University of Oregon and graduated in 1947 with a degree in business administration. He also was a member of the men's national professional advertising fraternity, Alpha Delta Sigma. In 1948, he married Barbara Lewis, who survives. For the first 10 years of their marriage, they lived in Eugene, where they were members of the Eugene Country Club and enjoyed playing tennis and golf. In 1957, he moved his family to Santa Barbara, Calif. He built, owned and operated the Sandman Motel and developed other properties. In 1968, he won the handicap championship at the Montecito Country Club. Several years later, he became a member of the La Cumbre Country Club, where he won several partner tournaments. After the sale of his business interests, he and his wife traveled to every state in the United States and to the lower provinces of Canada in 1978, stopping to fish and golf along the way. They also visited 34 countries and spent part of each year at their home on Maui. In 1990, he and his wife moved to their home on the Rogue River in Grants Pass, where he enjoyed gardening and growing prize-winning tomatoes. He enjoyed Dixieland jazz and attended festivals as distant as Australia and Germany. In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, Steve and Dave; a daughter, Georgia; and three grandchildren.