Russell Keith Bekemans

Russell "Keith" Bekemans, 86, of Livingston, Montana passed away on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at the Diamond K Lodge in Livingston. Keith was born March 20, 1928 in Livingston, Montana. He was the son of Joseph and Cecil (Hancock) Bekemans. Keith attended grade school and the Park County High School both in Livingston. Keith was married in 1945 to Vivian Keating. They had two children: Kamla and Kurt. They were later divorced in 1969. On July 23, 1976 Keith and Cecil were united in marriage and began 38 wonderful years of adventures. Together they built a cabin from the ground up on Mill Creek. They hosted many holidays and gatherings of family and friends at their cabin. They worked hard. The two of them owned the Ranger Bar in Gardiner, in the meantime, holding full time jobs with the Yellowstone National Park. Later, they purchased a semi-truck for the adventure of exploring across the country. They returned to YNP in 1983. They spent two winters working Canyon, snowmobiling back and forth to Mammoth so they could spend weekends at the Mill Creek cabin. Keith was the original entrepreneur. He started work at age twelve delivering newspapers. He worked at gas stations and then went on to Billings for business school and served an apprenticeship as a carpenter. He started a 27-passenger city bus route when he was 18 years old. He paid-it-off after running it for only two years then sold the business in 1950. The next idea was to buy gas stations. He bought the station on Park and B streets and then moved on to the Standard Station on Lewis and 2nd Street. He also pounded nails for Easton and Hiller and worked construction jobs in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. Keith was the Superintendent of the Carpenter Sign and Paint Shop in Yellowstone National Park for 20 years. He retired in 1993. Keiths passion was fly-fishing. He greatly loved the outdoors and enjoyed fishing the rivers of Montana. Keiths favorite river was the Yellowstone River. He fished with bamboo rods, tied his own flies and loved to be out floating or wading the river. He went to Alaska fishing with his son, he fished the Beverkill River in New York and capped off his trips by fishing the rivers of New Zealand. Keith is survived by his wife, Roonie; son, Kurt (Paula) Bekemans of Ringling; granddaughters, Jessie and Brenna; daughter Kamla, and a grandson, Joe; sister, Pat Bekemans; nephew, Robert Strayer; niece, Shelly Strayer of Seattle and Sandra (Jim) Denesen of Livingston. A very special thank you to the Diamond K Lodges staff. The last three years have been like living at the "Waldorf Astoria" because of the great food and wonderful care. Also, thank you to Livingston HealthCare Hospital, the Livingston Health and Rehabilitation Center and Livingston HealthCare Hospice. Per Keiths request no service will be conducted. Arrangements are under the direction of Franzen-Davis Funeral Home, Livingston.