Keith William Ballantyne, the son of Lillian (Drummond) Ballantyne, was born September 21, 1929 in Sioux City, IA. He moved to Cherokee at an early age. He attended school and graduated in Cherokee. Shortly after, Keith joined the Navy and was stationed in Guam during the Korean War. He was discharged after his tour of duty and returned to Cherokee. He worked on the railroad for a short while, as well as other jobs that were available at the time. He was later employed by the Iowa Department of Transportation. He retired from the DOT as a District Supervisor with 41 ½ years of service.
Keith enjoyed working in his yard among a variety of flowers and asparagus. He took great pride in the appearance of his yard. Many hours were spent making sure the grass was cut to the right height, the sidewalks were tended to, flower beds and fence rows trimmed to his specifications, that sufficient moisture was available for all the plants, and that the tomatoes were going to produce in abundance. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing, and ran a trap line or two in the earlier years.
On Monday, October 22, 2018, Keith passed away at the Cherokee Regional Medical Center, at age 89. He was preceded in death by his mother, Lillian Ballantyne, his brother, Jack Ballantyne and uncle, Cy Drummond.
He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 63+ years, Joan; his nephew, John (Riitta) Ballantyne of Montana City, MT; sister-in-law, Phyllis Ballantyne of Grass Valley, CA and niece, Lynn Marie Ballantyne of Goleta, CA; a sister-in-law, Donna Stief, and brother-in-law, Mahlon Stief (Linda Peterson), all of Cherokee; other nieces and nephews on Joan’s side: Mike (Tanya) Stief of Seminole, OK, Pat (Deb) Stief of Traer, IA, Shelly (Rick) Stickler of La Port City, IA, Mark (Kathy) Stief of Larrabee, IA,; Marlin (Amy) Stief of Cherokee, Darren (Tiffany) Willett of Waco, TX and Time (Alyssa) Stief of Shertz, TX; other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 27, 2018, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee.
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