Keith Draper's Obituary
Keith William Draper (5/17/1936 -1/20/2023) passed away peacefully on the evening of January 20th, 2023 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup. He was born to William Keith and Evelyn Pauline (nee Cournau) Draper in Tacoma, WA on May 17th, 1936. Keith graduated from Lincoln High School in 1954. He was already working for Safeway when he graduated and continued to work there until his retirement 45 years later. He married his high school sweetheart, the girl next door, Marilyn Lorraine Dunn in May of 1957 and she was by his side in his final minutes in this world. He loved working with people and had many friends from each of the stores he worked. The family joke is that errands or dinner out always took twice as long with Keith as he would inevitably run into someone he knew, wherever he went. He always had a friendly word and a fun story to tell. He dedicated his life to providing everything a young family could want. He was never happier than when he was on his boat either racing up the Sammamish Slough in the ‘60’s, trolling for salmon under the Narrows bridge and camping with family and friends. When at home, if there wasn’t a NASCAR race, Seahawks or Mariner’s game on, he would be found puttering around the house doing small jobs. He loved attending his grandsons’ baseball games and going to breakfast with his buddies. After retiring, he and Marilyn took several cruises and traveled internationally visiting Ireland, Puerto Rico and Mexico. He was warm, honest to fault and the most genuine man you’d ever hope to meet and loved his home town of Tacoma. Keith is survived by his wife of 65 years, Marilyn, his daughter, Michelle Ramalho, son, Duane (Tanja) and his grandsons Henri William and Finn Elliot. Services will be held on February 11th at 1pm at Mountain View Funeral Home in the Garden Chapel with a reception and lunch to follow.
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