Obituary of Harold O'Keefe

Harold R. "Hal" O'Keefe Olean, NY Harold R. "Hal" O'Keefe of 104 N. 17th St. passed away peacefully Wednesday (August 14, 2013) at the Cuba Memorial Hospital Palliative Care Unit after a brief illness. Born September 14, 1927 in Olean he was the son of Thomas and Lura Wilcox O'Keefe. On December 30, 1950 at St. Mary of the Angels Church in Olean he married Patricia A. Gazdik who survives. Mr. O'Keefe was a lifelong resident of Olean having attended St. Mary of the Angels Parochial School. His high school education was interrupted while he served a year in the US Army at the end of WWII. He graduated from Olean High School in 1948, served again in the US Army in the Korean War from 1950 to 1952 and upon discharge attended St. Bonaventure University. He had been employed for thirty seven years for Dresser Clark in Olean prior to his retirement in 1986. He was a member of St. Mary of the Angels Church where he served for many years as an usher at the 9am mass. He belonged to the Allegany American Legion Charles Harbel Post 892, the Olean Elk's Lodge #491 and was a founding member of the Mini Buck Lodge. He was a longtime season ticket holder of St. Bonaventure basketball and was an avid fan of the Buffalo Bills and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. His hobbies included hunting and golfing and making frequent visits to Cuba Lake. In his later years he enjoyed sitting on his front porch and watching over N. 17th Street. However, his greatest joy was spending time making memories with his family. Surviving besides his wife are two sons Kelly (Barbara) O'Keefe of Allegany and Kerry (Teresa) O'Keefe of Chalfont, PA; five daughters Karen (Pieter) Tesselaar of Silver Creek, Kimberly (Robert) Cerrie of Jamestown, Kathryn (Timothy) Galbato of Lakewood, Killeen (Michael) Higgins of Webster and Kirsten (Kurt) Benham of Cuba; nineteen grandchildren; four great grandchildren; a daughter-in-law Cheryl L. O'Keefe of Allegany; a brother James (Shirley) O'Keefe of Westwood, NJ; one sister Mary Rothrock of Olean; several nieces and nephews; three sisters-in-law Marianne O'Keefe, Penny O'Keefe and Joan Gazdik and two brothers-in-law Al Steiger and Larry Gazdik. He was predeceased by a son Kevin O'Keefe in 2011; 3 brothers Francis O'Keefe, Thomas O'Keefe and Ronald J. O'Keefe and three sisters Loretta Gordon, Geraldine Keefe and Ellen Steiger. Friends will be received at the Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral Home 3128 W. State Rd. Olean on Friday from 4-7pm. Funeral services will be held Saturday (August 17, 2013) beginning with a prayer service at 9:30am in the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:00am in St. Mary of the Angels Church. Rev. David Tourville will officiate. Burial will be in St. Bonaventure Cemetery. Memorials, if desired, may be made to St. Mary of the Angels Building Fund or to the Parkinson's Association of WNY 5140 Main Street Suite 303 Williamsville, NY 14221. Online condolences may be expressed at oleanfuneralhome.com.