Gerard McKeever - U.S. Air Force Veteran
21 August 1936 – 25 May 2021
Gerard McKeever was from Cawnpore Street in the Clonard area. His father John was born in Scotland and his mother Catherine in Fintona, Co. Tryone. They instilled travelling in all their children and made sure they knew there was a bigger world outside of Cawnpore Street. John and Catherine had twelve children, two sons, four daughters and then six more sons with Gerard in the middle of the youngest six.
The family’s love of bicycle racing saw the long hallway of 25 Cawnpore Street always full of racing bikes and every weekend the boys grabbed a bike and rode up through the Antrim coast to Waterfoot and Cushendall and this love of cycling never left them, with Gerard being a keen fan of Giro d’Italia and Tour de France for the rest of his life.
Gerard’s father John always kept pigeons. He had served in the Connaught Rangers himself and had shrapnel in his legs so the pigeons were a great hobby for him and he made Gerard and his brothers clean out the pigeon shade regularly — which they hated! During the Blitz, the family headed down into the crypts of Clonard Monastery for safety and Gerard talked about holding on to his sister Kathleen’s arm while she held the youngest brother Michael in her arms. From that time on, he always had a fascination of war and politics and spoke often of his wish to see a peaceful Ireland.
When the second eldest son, Laurence, left to join the RAF, Gerard realised he could maybe travel even further afield so he joined the American Air Force in the early 1960s. He was certainly used to being in crowded accommodation and the regimented life suited him. He was posted to Vietnam and spoke about this often although his family were more in awe about it than him as he always played it down and never went into too much detail. Though he did send over photos of the lads in camp, beautiful Asian girls and photos of when Bob Hope entertained the troops in Pleiku.
Gerard was Sergeant then later Master Sergeant and finally Technical Sergeant and he cherished his US citizenship certificate.
Having lost his father, Gerard came back to Belfast every year to visit his mother who was still living in Cawnpore Street with his brother Anthony. Arriving at Dublin Airport, Gerard always hired the biggest car they had and he would arrive at his sisters' and brothers' houses in Beechmount and Andersonstown and get out smelling of some expensive aftershave with his brightly coloured clothes and his white-tipped cigarettes. Always sporting a suntan and with his American accent, his nieces and nephews were always in awe of this handsome man from an exotic place they’d only seen on TV.
When Gerard retired from the Air Force in 1984 he joined his two brothers Jim and Michael in Johannesburg where they had emigrated to years before. Never having married himself, Gerard had his own comfortable lifestyle in South Africa but always loved being surrounded by family. Following the tragic death of his brothers Jim and Anthony and his beloved sisters Betty and Kathleen, Gerard decided at the age of seventy he would come back to Belfast and live out his golden years among family and friends.
For nearly ten years Gerard lived independently, jumping in his car and heading out for lunch every day, visiting family and friends and always attending Mass every Sunday. It wasn’t until 2017 that he actually asked family for help with his day-to-day care which, of course, he got.
Indeed, his needs and wishes were fulfilled until the day he died.
His only request was that if possible the Elvis song 'If I Can Dream' be played at his funeral. Written in memory of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, it held a special place in Gerard's memory.
Gerard’s family would like to thank the staff of Adelaide House and Our Lady’s Nursing Home who cared for him in his final years with great dignity and care.
Gerard is now reunited with his parents John and Catherine and with his late brothers and sisters Johnny, Henry, Michael, Anthony, Jim, Betty (Carson), Kathleen (Morgan).
He is mourned by his surviving siblings Nellie (Massey), Phyllis (Rountree) who lives in Birmingham and his brothers Joe and Laurence (Oxford). Gerard will be interred at his parents’ grave in Milltown Cemetery and also at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
PROUD OF CONTRIBUTION TO USA AND TO IRELAND: Gerard McKeever, who died last week, pictured on a wet and rainy August day last year when celebrated his 84th birthday with great-nephew Aidan through the window of the nursing home due to Covid restrictions
