In Memory of Keith Bolte

The unexamined life is not worth living. Here, now, the time has come to celebrate a man who lived a life worth living. To many: he was a brother in arms, mentor, educator, and a beacon to those needing a leader, a father, or a friend. The opportunity to say how happy he made us all is now upon us. But if we are honest with ourselves, it is not happiness that we actually feel. It is gratefulness.

We are grateful that God loves us enough that he gave us Keith. We learned that being more than a man, but less than God still means we have to say goodbye one day. Keith saw that he was greatly loved and was grateful that he was appreciated by the lives he was able to touch throughout this life. Nevertheless, we are sure he expects us all to “go forth, and do good things” even though he is no longer here to lead the charge.

For those who never knew the man, Keith Bolte, he was many things:

Born Jan 4th, 1944 in Huron, South Dakota, Keith Alan Bolte was a youthful troublemaker. In his own words as to why he joined the Army during the Vietnam War, “I knew if I went to college I would drink too much.” Originally signed up for Intelligence Analyst, Keith was redirected into sniping and long range reconnaissance (LRC) during Basic Training. Signing up for three years and entering the United States Army on 29 June, 1962, Keith was deployed to Vietnam where he spent the entire year conducting missions that varied far and wide. While Keith didn’t like to talk about his time in the war, those experiences definitely stayed with him. Deployed first to establish Combat Zone D, from enemy hands, then deployed up to Pleiku where recent attacks on the US Airbase had weakened the operations of the airfield. Keith was bounced around as an attachment to many units. After his three year enlistment was over, Keith came home to a country disgusted by the war.

Keith lived many careers including consulting, lobbying, corporate turn-around, managing government departments, flight instructor, and of course university professor. Bringing so much life experience to the classroom, Professor Bolte was tough. Demanding his students to not only think for themselves, but to back up those thoughts with coherent-fact based evidence. The classroom was a place to learn, grow, and develop, and Keith held that place sacred. When offered an opportunity to run for public office, Keith responded “I would rather stay and teach and make sure the up-and-coming generations can think.” His hard and old-school ways of teaching were tempered by his incredible love for his students. Pausing his day to help anyone who asked, going out of his way to make sure a student knew he was there; and sometimes even pulling a student aside to make sure they were living up to their fullest potential.

At this point in our journey with Keith, an opportunity to do a good thing already exists. That good thing is to help his wife, Karen with the existing medical expenses and the future memorial cost. Anything that anyone can give will be a blessing to his wife. For Karen and Keith’s loved ones, let us be that good thing and continue to carry the torch of doing good things. Keith would expect nothing less from us.