Earl Keith Hamrick, known to everyone as Keith, was born in Dickens, Iowa on April 5, 1919. His parents were Alvin Hamrick and Harriet Shannon. When he was seven years old, he moved with his family to southwestern Michigan. He remained there until he enlisted in the Air Force in September 1942, during World War II. For the next two years, he was stationed within the states. While stationed at Buckley Field, near Denver, Colorado, he married Mary Ellis Jackson in a ceremony performed at the First Presbyterian Church in Denver on April 30, 1944. She traveled to Denver specifically for the ceremony. Mary was born in Summitville, Tennessee on March 26, 1923. She moved with her parents, David Jackson and Florence (Mathews) Jackson, from Summitville to Niles, Michigan in 1929.

 

Keith was deployed to the Pacific theatre in the Fall of 1944 and was there until after the war ended in 1945. Mary lived in Niles while he was gone and they settled in Niles after Keith was discharged from active duty. Keith remained in the Air Force Reserves and was recalled to active duty during the Korean conflict. After Korea, he continued serving in the reserves and, overall, spent 25 years in the Air Force.

 

In civilian life, Keith was a master carpenter for a number of years and also spent nearly twenty years working as a manager at a major home center in Niles. He retired in 1984. Mary worked as a secretary for Niles Public Schools from 1959 to 1985, when she retired. Keith and Mary raised three sons: Terry James, Ronald Keith (me), and Randy Lee.

 

Keith and Mary lived a comfortable retired life in Niles, Michigan, at the home they had bought new in 1950. In September 2013, when taking care of the house and yard became difficult due to their advancing age, they moved to Woodland Terrace, a senior living residence in Niles, and in 2014 sold the home where they had lived for 64 years.  They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on April 30, 2014. Keith passed away at 95 years old on September 23, 2014. Mary continued living at Woodland Terrace until she passed away at 95 years old on May 8, 2018..