Larry Dale Keitel

Larry Dale Keitel was born on February 11th, 1943 to Dale Omar Keitel and Opal Marie Keitel in Ingelwood California. Larry was heavily influenced by his father's work in the budding space industry and would reminisce about the stories his Dad would tell those early years throughout his lifetime.

Larry loved the time period of his teenage years when he learned to work on cars. He often told the stories of drag racing, cruising, and of course the Bob’s Big Boy drive in hamburger stand. In his later years he longed so much for those times again.

Larry married his high school sweetheart Jacqueline Joyce on May 4th, 1963 He went to Northrop Grumman Airframe and Power Plant school to develop his mechanical skills. He was always proud that he could pass those exams on his first try since, as he said, his Father worked very hard at getting him through high school.

Larry and Jackie had their first son John on December 1st, 1963. Larry got his private pilots license at the Van Nuys airport. They moved to Las Vegas where Larry was hired for his first job in the airline industry with Bonanza Airlines as an A&P mechanic. Larry bought his first plane, the Cessna 140. They started life in a single wide trailer near the airport and after a couple years moved that trailer to Mesa Arizona where he was transferred to work at the Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix Arizona.

On July 22nd, 1970 Larry and Jackie were blessed with their second son Raymond. This was a joyous occasion as they had six miscarriages before Ray and were not sure having another child would be possible.

Ray and John pretty much grew up in airports as Larry was constantly working on his plane or taking the family to Fly-ins to look at planes and talk to people that had the same passion for planes that he did. For Ray, the smell of an airport has stayed with him and brings back fond memories. By this time Larry had sold the Cessna 140 and bought the 1950 Pacer PA-20 that he would keep throughout his life. He rebuilt this plane mostly in the garage of his house in Tempe Arizona that they bought in 1968. He also rented a hangar at Falcon Field in Mesa Arizona where he would finish the assembly of his first rebuilt plane.

The hanger would get an additional plane in 1973, the 1942 Beechcraft Staggerwing. This plane became his project to rebuild from the ground up. Larry outgrew the Falcon hanger and built his own hanger at Memorial Field next to his friends that he had met in the Antique Airplane club. There he would have plenty of room to work on his planes and any others of his friends. Ray and John spent many days with him and made many memories riding dirt bikes and wandering the bone yard of airplanes there.

Larry was transferred to Los Angeles International Airport in 1985. This strained his marriage and they would ultimately divorce. Larry purchased a house in El Segundo in 1992 where his boys would live with him during that time in their lives. Larry retired and later married Jeannette on May 21st, 2006. He joined Jeannette’s family and watched many grandkids come into the lives of her children. Dad enjoyed the family get togethers and the love they shared. Larry and Jeannette took many trips together to various fly-ins around the country. His favorite fly-in was at the Antique Airfield in Blakesburg Iowa, he especially liked hanging out at Elaine’s Bar with all the pilots sharing a beer and a story. Larry continued to work on his Staggerwing and purchased several more projects along the way. Larry and Jeannette would travel to fly-ins around the country. Dad was a judge for the antique airplanes at the Oshkosh EAA fly-in, the largest aviation gathering in the world.

Larry Keitel is survived by his wife Jeannette and family, his two sons Ray and John, Ray and Florence’s son JD, John and Diane’s son Nicholas, and John’s daughter Alisha and her daughter Jamie.