Obituary of Dorsey Bruner Keesey

Dorsey Bruner Keesey, one of the good guys of his time, was born April 20, 1938, in York, Pennsylvania, and passed away July 29, 2023, at his Cabin in Northern Minnesota. Dorsey was surrounded by his family and loved ones.     

Dorsey leaves behind his wife of 57 years (Barbara) Sherry Keesey (nee Lynch) and 3 children to pass along his GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR, patience, tolerance, and love of sailing: JEFF, JENNY and PETER and his wife Katy.  He is also survived by 3 adult grandsons (Jeff’s children): DAN and Ashley and their children, Brennan Thomas and Mya; ZACK and Maddie, daughter Kinnsley Dols and one on the way; and NICK Keesey; Pete’s school age sons, LEO and JONES; Dorsey’s daughter Jenny is passing along his love of sailing and the water; also, granddaughters Jamie Becher and Ashley Bohn and their children: Rion, Alex, Nathan Becher and Savannah and Benjamin Bohn. He is also survived by Julie; mother of Jamie, Ashley, Dan, Zack and Nick; his brother Dick and his wife Laurie; their children: Ian, his wife Jimena and daughter Valentina; and Anna Lifson and her partner Jay Del Carmen.   

Surviving Dorsey are two brothers-in-law: Dave Lynch, and Steve Lynch and his wife Kim;  nieces Lauria Lynch German, her husband Mark; Laura Beth Keesey and nephew Stephen, his daughter Sixten.  

Dorsey was born to Richard and Josephine/Joie (Bruner) Keesey. As a boy, Dorsey spent summers in Paxtonville, Pennsylvania, with his brothers and his cousins Bill, Suzie and Hamp Bruner. He had fond memories of swimming in Middle creek and eating shoofly pie or Montgomery pie.   

Dorsey graduated high school from Baltimore City College in 1956, where he played baseball and basketball. He was such a good pitcher it was rumored that scouts from the Yankees came to watch him play. This rumor couldn’t be independently verified, and it’s generally assumed that the source of the rumor was his father.

He was active-duty Army for 2 years and in reserves for 4 years. While in the Army, Dorsey specialized in artillery and surveying. The Army is where he learned to love coffee as holding a cup of coffee was a great way to look too busy for work assignments.  

After graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University (go Tigers!), he started working at the Torrington Company in Connecticut. He was later transferred to South Bend, Indiana, where he met, and later married a Howard Johnson waitress, Sherry Lynch. They were married on June 25, 1966.

Dorsey was transferred to three cities over the course of his career and had a child in each. Jeff was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Jenny was born in Davenport, Iowa. When they had Peter in Minneapolis, they decided they weren’t going to be transferred anymore.  

Dorsey was a steady if somewhat aloof presence in what was an often frenetic and welcoming family home. In addition to his three children who were always finding creative ways to get into trouble, there was a revolving door of teenage exchange students from all over the world. Dorsey wasn’t often effusive in welcoming the exchange students or his kids’ friends to the house or the cabin, but he never made anyone feel unwelcome. He would treat these kids like they were his own by having them hold a wrench or screwdriver while he fixed whatever was broken and pretending not to notice when they got into trouble.  

Dorsey enjoyed a long retirement with many part-time and seasonal jobs. He worked on a golf course, a ski slope and as a driver for an auto dealership. They traveled to South America and Europe staying with the former exchange students.  Most importantly, retirement allowed him to spend many summers and falls at his cabin.  He would fix things around the house or go out on the boat or read a history book. Dorsey passed along his love of sailing to Jenny. They won many sailing trophies together in her childhood. He continued to love to sail and his lake. Fall was his favorite time to be up there; warm enough to sit outside in the afternoon without the bugs.

He was preceded in death by his infant great-grandson, Bruner William Keesey; his parents, Richard Ermine and Josephine/Joie Ada (Bruner) Keesey; and his brother and sister-in-law, Christopher and Kathleen Keesey.   

In lieu of flowers, contributions to the cemetery in Paxtonville, Pennsylvania: Paxtonville Cemetery Association, attn: Adam Steininger, Paxtonville, PA, 17861, or to a small cemetery of your choice. 

A memorial service will be held on September 10th from 3:30pm-5:30pm at the Cremation Society of MN, 7110 France Ave S, Edina, MN 55435.