Page 45 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2016

His touch was wide and far with the relationships he made and the people he impacted.
“It was amazing to have so many people we’ve never met before approach us and tell us stories on how my father had helped them
or made a positive impact. It was moving,” Joe said. “It’s very rare in this day and age for people to talk about valor, but he truly did have valor.”
Jeffrey H. “Jeff” O’Keefe Sr., president and CEO of Bradford- O’Keefe Funeral Home, said he, too, was overwhelmed to hear people’s comments about his father’s World War II military service — where
he attained the status as an ace fighter pilot in 1944 — his time
in the Mississippi Legislature, as mayor of Biloxi and later as a tireless fundraiser for nonprofit causes.
Jerry O’Keefe’s philanthropy was widespread. He worked at fundraising for Nativity BVM, the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, university scholarships, mental health and children’s charities, to
name a few. He and his late wife, Annette, established the O’Keefe Foundation in 1996.
“His touch was wide and far
with the relationships he made and the people he impacted. It was overwhelming for sure,” Jeff said.
Biloxi Mayor Andrew “Fofo” Gillich said the city lost a great American hero. “We can take comfort in the fact that we were all able to share in Jerry’s life, to benefit from his service to country and community,” he said. “We can take comfort that he has such a large family to carry on the O’Keefe legacy.”
Jerry O’Keefe and his late wife, Annette Saxon O’Keefe, had 13 children. Eleven are still living. Both Joe and Jeff said a large part of their father’s legacy was the family he helped create.
“While we were in the cathedral, we had a majority of the family seated to the left with grandsons
and granddaughters on the right. There are 40 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. He was a strong
patriarch,” Jeff said.
“We have siblings in almost every
time zone in the United States, yet we pretty much all manage to convene back in Biloxi at least once or twice a year to reconnect,” Joe said.
He added, “One of the ironies
of Dad was he was so tough and uncompromising in his public posture, but again and again and again he was forgiving of his children and grandchildren. Forgiveness is extremely hard to do.”
Jeff said he once asked his father about retirement and was told, “O’Keefes have to die on the job.” That is exactly what Jerry O’Keefe did with his seven decades of unbroken service to his nation, state, city and family.
Joe described his father as a bridge builder for his public and private sacrifices.
“His work is done, and done well. For that he earned his rest, and he will rest, in peace, in the light of grace,” he said during the eulogy.
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October 2016 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 45