KEITH MEEKER HARVEY
SHERBURNE – Keith Meeker Harvey, 77, of Sherburne, passed away Friday, February 24, 2017 at Binghamton General Hospital, Binghamton, NY.
I was born January 27, 1940 in the home at Texas Valley, NY. I am the son of Lew and Lucinda Harvey. I grew up on the home dairy farm in Texas Valley. As a sophomore in high school I went to Morrisville College for one week for Dairymen’s League Youth Cooperators conference. As a junior I went for a week to Empire Boys State at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. I was Student Council Vice President as a junior and Student Council President as a senior in high school. As a senior in 1958 I got to play baseball at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY as a Section IV all-star. I played four sports, soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball. I was in 4H for 12 years where I learned how to judge dairy cattle and grow garden vegetables. I pledge my Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service, and my Health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world. To make the best better. I was in the FFA for 3 years while in Marathon High School. I achieved the green hand degree (bronze pin), chapter degree (silver pin), and the state empire degree (gold pin). I was the president of the Marathon FFA in my senior year. I tried to live the FFA motto: Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live and living to serve. I was on the 1958 Cortland County FFA winning dairy cattle judging team at the NYS Fair.
I attended Cornell University from September 1958 to June 1963. I stayed in a cooperative house, Cayuga Lodge, while at Cornell. As a junior the Lodge won the intramural softball championship. I played third base. In my senior year I was inducted into Ho Nun De Kah, an Agricultural Honorary at Cornell. In July and August of 1961 I was craft lodge instructor at Crumhorn Mountain Boy Scout Camp near Oneonta, NY. I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow while at the camp.
I did my student teaching practice at Sherburne Central School with John Kiernan in the fall of 1961. I graduated from Cornell in June 1962. In September 1962 I stayed at Cornell for the 5th year to obtain permanent certification for teaching.
I married Carol Ann Sprague on December 22, 1962. We lived in Varna, NY while I finished graduate work at Cornell.
I received the Master of Education in 1967 from Cornell University. My Essay was titled, “Why Teachers of Agriculture Leave the Teaching Profession.”
I took an Agriculture teaching position at Candor Central School from 1963-1965. I then taught Agriculture at Sherburne-Earlville Central School from 1965 to 1976. As an advisor to the FFA I was stationed by the owl. The owl is the time honored symbol of knowledge and wisdom. Being older than the rest of you, I am asked to advise you from time to time as the need arises. I hope that my advice is based on true knowledge and ripened with wisdom.
I became certified in Administration and Supervision and became Junior-High Principal at Sherburne-Earlville Central School from 1976 to 1978. I then became certified in 7-12 Science and Biology and became an eighth grade science teacher at Sherburne-Earlville Central School from 1978 to1980. I then became certified to teach Health and I became the Health teacher at Sherburne-Earlville Central School from 1980 to June 1990.
I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1983. I went on disability retirement in November 1991.
I was a member of the Sherburne Lions Club from 1974-1978. I was a member of the Adult Fellowship in the Sherburne Methodist Church.
I was predeceased by my loving wife, Carol Ann Sprague Harvey on 2-27-2006. I was also predeceased by my mother, Lucinda in 1968, my father, Lew, in 1982, a brother, Homer, in 1992, a brother, Ken, in 1998, and a sister, Ruth in 2001.
I have a sister and brother-in-law, Phyllis and Carl Larrabee of Ocala, Florida. I have a brother and sister-in-law, Norman and Patricia Harvey of Marathon, NY.
We have two daughters and sons-in-law, Michelle and David Rundle of Marathon, NY, and Wendy and Al Irwin of Sherburne, NY. We also have five grandchildren, Erin and Morgan Rundle and Alexis, Savannah and Gabriel Irwin. There are several nieces and nephews.
“It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.”
I wish everyone a long and happy life.
As I leave this world I will take my place next to my wife, my eternal love, Carol, in the Bryan lot in the Sherburne West Hill Cemetery.
I wish you faith, hope and love.
God Bless,
Keith M. Harvey
Memorial Services for Keith will be held at 12 Noon on Saturday, March 4, 2017 from the First United Methodist Church, Chapel St., Sherburne,
Friends are invited to call at the church on Saturday from 10am to Noon prior to the service.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the First United Methodist Church Capital Fund, PO Box 556, Sherburne, NY 13460.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Burgess & Tedesco Funeral Home, 10 S. Main St., Sherburne, NY.
To send a condolence and sign the Book of Memories online go to www.burgessandtedescofuneralhomes.com