Here's the first and possibly final draft (eulogy) on behalf of Keith as written by his good friend - Jeff Conrad.
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I had the pleasure of meeting Keith back in 2003 in Hawaii. From our initial meeting, I knew that our friendship would last a lifetime. It saddens me that our friendship was cut short by his sudden death! I will cherish our friendship and will always reflect on the conversations that we had, the business ventures we discussed, and the happy times we shared with family either over the phone or in person! Keith…you will be missed by me, my family and all of those who loved you! We know that you are in a better place…in God’s Heavenly Kingdom!
As I prepared for this tribute to my good friend Keith Jones, I was reading all the condolences on Keith’s Face Book page and I quickly learned that there were some common denominators that everyone talked about. The first trait that stands out was that Keith was truly a family-man. He loved his two beautiful daughters and his precious grandkids with all his heart! There was not a conversation that Keith and I had without him talking about and keeping me updated about his family! You can see from his website (
www.keithdjones.com) on how much he loved and thought about his daughters and grandkids. In fact, my last conversation with Keith on January 3, 2011 he talked about how much he was looking forward to moving back to Hawaii to be closer to his kids.
The second trait that everyone talks about is his friendly personality. Keith was a fun-loving guy! He loved to joke around with people to make them laugh and put a smile on their face. Keith also knew when it was time to joke around or time to be serious with someone. He provided me a lot of sound advice on various topics and I will carry forward his advice with me in my life-long journey.
Another important trait that Keith was so good at was his strong marketing skills. Keith had a gift from God in this department! He knew how to market products, how to talk to people by putting them at ease with his caring attitude and willingness to help them be successful in their marketing needs. You can see his talent by his own website that I referenced earlier on how gifted Keith was as a webmaster. I was blessed to have a couple of websites built for me by Keith and he diligently worked on them to my satisfaction and I can honestly say that without his professional talent, I would not have the marketing success I have today and in the future for my product.
Not only was Keith a great marketer, but he was a great businessman! He was so business savvy! We had numerous conversations on various business ventures that Keith wanted to pursue. I know he was working hard on his Maui Babe Coffee and his Product Placement business ventures. He was making great strides before his life was cut short on having a very lucrative and successful business in these two areas.
As you read Keith’s biography on his website, you learn that Keith had many dreams in life. He dreamt of being a professional baseball player. Although, he worked hard on fulfilling that dream, he came up a little short. Keith then decided to get into bodybuilding, power-lifting, and even professional arm wrestling. Well, he did have success in these sports. In fact, with his strong physique that he mastered from his diligence in weight training and his pretty-boy looks, he started an acting career. Keith was a member of the Screen Actors Guild and had worked on over 40 commercials, television and film productions. He was also featured in many publications around the country including Time Magazine (November 1987), Planet Muscle Magazine (May 2003), and a book titled “Struggling to be Heard”.
On March 1, 1998 while training for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia to compete in the Discus event, Keith was bit by what the doctors told him was a brown recluse spider. After spending 28 days in the hospital and over six months in rehabilitation, Keith’s life as he puts it changed forever. The doctors wanted to amputate his leg, but Keith convinced them otherwise. Keith had many medical complications and other medical things happen to him as a result of this spider bite. The most damaging and as Keith puts it discouraging thing that happened to him was the weight gain due to the inactivity and depression that took over him due to the inactivity of working out like he was accustomed to doing.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I had the pleasure of meeting Keith back in 2003, when Keith didn’t have that strong physique type body due to his medical conditions. I have to be honest, it didn’t matter to me what he looked like on the outside, but rather, what was important to me was the type of person Keith was on the inside! I immediately learned from my brief introduction to Keith that he was a very intelligent and caring man. I valued the way Keith conducted business and how he treated everyone fairly, with compassion and the willingness to help them in their needs. As a good salesman, he knew how to “close the sale”!
Throughout his lifetime, Keith always made time to support various charitable organizations, especially one’s that supported kids. He also was a strong supporter of the military. As a 24-year Navy veteran, I valued his strong support to the men and women that have served and continue to serve our great country in protecting our freedom! Keith was a true patriot through his actions while proudly serving his community throughout the country during his lifetime.
I think it is important for people to understand who Keith really was and what he stood for. He has touched the lives of all those he had come in contact with. I have learned a great deal from him that I will cherish for as long as I live. I hope and pray that we can learn from Keith’s life experience and his words as indicated on the first paragraph on his website that I quote:
“Some people say to me how interesting and exciting life I have had. The opportunity to travel and be a part of some very special and exciting moments and events I have experienced will last my lifetime. I have been very lucky in my life and have been able to do things and meet people I never thought would happen. But, I also had some hard times. I know everyone has gone through the same things I have gone through and even worse. What counts is how you take advantage of the opportunities you were given and to conquer the negative things that have happened…no matter how long it takes. Just Never Give Up!”
It is ironic that one of Keith’s favorite quotes as indicated under his name at the top of his website reads: “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off your dream”, correlates with one of my speeches titled “Don’t Be Adverse To Overcome Adversity”. As a Motivational Speaker, I talk about in the speech how obstacles, challenges, and tragedies are all part of life. Unavoidable. But lessons learned and shared from real-life experience can help us in our life of business or business of life. To me, I have learned a great deal through Keith’s life experience of which made me a better person and one that is determined to succeed in life, just like Keith did, despite any obstacles that come in the way.
One of our main jobs in life is to become an expert in dealing with adversity, to triumph over difficulty, to rise above the challenges of day-to-day life. Keep your thoughts on where you're going, not on where you've been. Keep your eyes on your goals, and keep your chin tilted upward toward the sunshine. Resolve in advance that you will meet and overcome every difficulty, and then, no matter what happens, don't give up until you do.
Keith, I know that you always had your eyes on your goals, met every adversity (obstacle) head on, and never gave up! You will never be forgotten and I will take the many fond memories and those conversations we have had with me throughout my life-long journey. As the saying goes, “Success is a journey, not a destination!” As you succeeded in life, we too will succeed through learning from your life’s experience.
Thank you for being a great friend for those fortunate years I had known you! Although, you are no longer with us in a physical sense, we know that you will always be with us in spirit! As our Guardian Angel in God’s Heavenly Kingdom, we ask you to watch over, guide and protect your beautiful daughters, precious grandkids, family members and friends always!
Keith, I will leave you with this last statement…I will not say goodbye, but rather, until we meet again! See you up there in Heaven one day “Big Buddy”!
All my love,
Your “Little Buddy”
Jeff Conrad
