Garrett Vink Keefer, Sr.

Garrett Vink Keefer Sr., 90, formerly of Frederick, MD and recently residing with family in Taneytown MD, passed away peacefully of natural causes at home Saturday, January 2, 2021. He was born September 19, 1930 in Schenectady, NY, the son of Kenneth and Bertha (Vink) Keefer.  He married Sally Renn on June 21, 1968; she preceded him in death in 2016.   Garrett is survived by two sons, Dr. Jeffrey Keefer and wife Maureen of Baltimore, MD, and Garrett Keefer, Jr. and wife Lisa of Taneytown, MD.  He is also survived by four grandchildren, Anna Keefer of Baltimore, Hailey Keefer and Amanda Wagner, both of Taneytown, and Garrett Keefer III, of Sheridan, Arkansas, as well as three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a sister, Nancy Crandall.

Garrett was a graduate of Norwich University, received a Master’s degree at the University of New Hampshire and completed a PhD in Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin.  He served in the Army and was stationed at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD for much of his service.  Garrett had a long and distinguished 41-year career in the Federal Government, first in a virology laboratory at Fort Detrick, then for nearly 30 years in the Center for Scientific Review at the National Institutes of Health.   He was a loving and kind husband, father and grandfather.  Garrett valued hard work and hated to be idle; even near the end of his life he enjoyed working in the yard.  He was a genuinely nice person who will be deeply missed by those lucky enough to have known him. 

No services will be held at this time.  Arrangements have been entrusted to the MYERS-DURBORAW FUNERAL HOME in Westminster, MD.