DR. CLEAVER KEENAN 1930-2012

Cleaver Keenan 1930 - 2012




In loving Memory of a Dear and True Friend.



By Mich Verrier.



Seven years ago, outside of the New Liskeard post office while I was picking up my dog’s leavings. I heard a voice say “hello”. “Hello” I said then I introduced myself

“My name is Mich and this is my Seeing Eye dog Dale.”

“ Nice to meet you” said this person, “My name is Cleaver and this is my wife Dorothy. “Nice to meet you both” I said. Then I asked D

“Do you happen to know anything about how to fix computers?”

“ Why yes I do,” he said “ why, is yours broken?”

“ Yes it is” I said.

“ Well I will pop by and take a look at it,” he said. I thanked him and went on my way. Thus began my friendship with one of the kindest and nicest people I have ever met -.Dr.. Cleaver Keenan and his wife Dorothy. Over the next seven years Cleaver did more than just fix my pc. We ended up forming a long and lasting friendship which I still treasure to this day. I was with Cleaver through many of the ups and downs that come with life. I was there when he had to put his wife in a Home since she had Alzheimer's And he was there for me when I had a relationship with a girl that went badly. But through it all and through discussions on Friday nights at “Roosters” in booth 4, and then later on at the Rainbow Kitchen Chinese restaurant, and Steak Villa, and at his place afterwards, Cleaver and I talked about everything under the sun: life, death, relationships, and God. Religion was a favourite topic of his.

I once asked him in a session with another friend, Ray, at the Library “How can you have a relationship with a dead guy?” after which he sent me an article by John Bowen that tried to tackle that very question. I also later on met John Bowen and thought he was a very nice guy. In short Cleaver was my friend and I miss him a lot. Everytime I had something bothering me, or needed help with things, he was there. I will miss hearing his voice at the other end of the phone or when we would chat on Skype. I also will miss his handshake and the deep and meaningful conversations we had on Friday nights at his place after dinner which is where the conversations would start. He was also a great lover of history, especially World War 2. I learned a lot from him about this time period in history. He and I also shared a love of old music. As he often said to me, “who can I talk to who is twenty nine, about music by people like Sir Harry Lauder?”

After he asked me that I sent him some songs by the above artist. The same goes for books we shared a love of reading and he and I read some of the same books like “Three Men in a Boat”. I am what you might call a old soul and all my life have gotten along with older people more than people of my own age group, and Cleaver was one of those people. I had more in common with him then I ever had with people of my own age. I remember a time when he said to me in answer to my question “have you seen the news? “He said “No I have no need to, I just wait to talk to you!” I took that as a great compliment. He also once told me about the book “The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin Story, a Biography by Rosalind Perlman” - I was struck with this sentence



“Everyone who reads Dr. Jacob Bolotin's story will learn that blindness is no barrier to a full life and great accomplishments," said Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind.



In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if after I've gone, and someone mentions my name, another person will say, "Oh yeah!, wasn't that the old doc who was a friend of Mich's?" An epitaph I would treasure.

In short Cleaver was my friend and I am thankful for the time I got to spend with him and the things he taught me about life, love and for seeing me as more then just “that blind guy.”



To my Friend Cleaver, where ever you are, I know you are happy and I also know that I will see you again some day.



From Mich Verrier from New Liskeard Ontario Canada.