W.R. Keyser was a man of great resilience. Throughout his long life he experienced many incidents that required a reserve of tremendous faith, courage and resolve, all of which he exhibited with dignity and acceptance.
He grew up the eldest son in a family of 10 children in an impressive Victorian house in downtown Mila. His father farmed, worked on the water, and was known far and wide each summer for his wonderful cantaloupes, which were Mila’s claim to fame. W.R. served in the military, married his wife, Patsy, and returned home to raise their family and work in the appliance installation and repair industry.
W.R. easily could be called a mechanical genius. He understood electrical and mechanical systems as well as any engineering professor at a university. He also had the ability to explain matters of that nature in terms that his customers who were less gifted, myself foremost among them, could understand without needing a dictionary or owner’s manual.
After working in the trade for many years, he set up his own business, W. R Keyser Ltd., on West Church Street in Kilmarnock, from whence he and his sons, Mark, Denis and Leonard served customers across the lower Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula. For customers having problems, a call to W.R. was all that was needed.
In everything he did, W.R. was a take-charge person. When he saw a situation that needed help, he moved decisively to step in to do his part to ameliorate the situation, most poignantly when great misfortunes befell his family. His father was struck by a car while crossing the street in Kilmarnock, less than a block from W.R.’s place of business. He was among the first on the scene, beholding his father. Coming home for Thanksgiving that year, and not knowing what had happened, I passed the cemetery as he was being buried, and I beheld the largest funeral assemblage I ever saw.
Patsy, who worked as a mail carrier, sustained grave injuries in an automobile accident, the results of which persisted for the rest of her life, and most terribly, their beloved daughter, Mary’s life was taken in horrible circumstances. W.R. attended every minute of the ensuing trial as his final homage to his child.
He viewed parenthood as a lifetime vocation. He told me that when each of his large family of children was coming of age, he stayed up until the last one returned home, regardless of how late it was, and despite his having to be at work the next morning. After Patsy died, W.R. and his second wife, RayLee, enjoyed travel and retirement.
For W.R., things had to happen the way that they should, or at least the way that he thought they should. One Sunday when the pastor at church, who was known for long, rambling sermons, rolled on preaching for 55 minutes, W.R., who as an usher sat in the last pew in the rear of the church, stood up, lifted his left arm to show his wristwatch, and with his right index finger pointed to the watch to let the priest know quitting time had arrived. The ploy worked and he stopped talking. Leaving church, many beleaguered congregants thanked W.R. for his intervention.
By nature, W.R. was extremely intellectually curious. He wanted to know as much as he could about whatever situation he encountered. When he learned some new facet of information, be it engineering or history, politics or farming, his first words to others would be, “Did you know…..?” He was not at all a gossip, but he liked to share what he knew. He especially enjoyed his membership in the Knights of Columbus and the fellowship it entailed.
W.R. was a committed Christian, a devout Catholic, a devoted husband and father, a tireless worker, a beloved friend, and for 94 years a truly good person.
William Raynard Keyser Jr., May 30, 1932 – June 14, 2026. R.I.P.
