Keith Whisenand

School principal Keith Whisenand loved kids

Keith Whisenand played piano, coached sports, loved fishing.
By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News
September 3, 2007

It was no surprise to his family that Keith Whisenand went into education, eventually becoming the principal at Bishop and Maddox elementary schools in Englewood.

Mr. Whisenand was drawn to it because "he was always one of these people who stuck up for the person being picked on. That's why he went into teaching: He loved kids and didn't want to see anyone harmed emotionally," his wife, Patricia Whisenand, said.

After decades of dedicated service in the schools and a yearlong battle with cancer, Mr. Whisenand died Aug. 25 at age 63.

Born in Walsh, he overcame polio as a child to become an accomplished athlete. Mr. Whisenand and his wife-to-be were both early starters in college at Emporia State College in Kansas, where they met and married when he was 18 and she was 19. They moved to Colorado, where he worked for 30 years with Englewood public schools, and she taught in Denver and Elizabeth.

He played piano by ear, coached football and volleyball, loved fishing and remodeled his house himself. Days before he passed away, his family took him, at his request, on one last fishing trip to Lake Powell.

"He was a man of determination and a positive attitude. This was God's way of taking him, and he knew he was going to go," his wife said.

"One of the most important lessons he taught us was through his everyday actions, and that lesson was to 'live life like you were dying.' It sounds cliché, but it really was my dad," daughter Teri Whisenand said.

"No matter what obstacle he faced, he took it head-on with a positive attitude, laying no blame on anyone for his circumstances."

Mr. Whisenand participated in the ceremony that retired his son, Anthony, from his service in the Air Force.

"He was a motivation for me at times when things were tough, and I could think of no better way to honor his support for me than to have him officially retire me from the service," Anthony Whisenand said.

Mr. Whisenand golfed a bit in his youth, but after his children were out of high school he renewed his love of the game, and the Englewood Golf Course became "his home away from home," Patricia Whisenand said. He did volunteer work there as well, and when his daughter, Tami Malloy, stopped by after his death, she got an amazing phone call. The daughter of the man behind the counter asked to speak with her.

"She said she and all her siblings had all been taught by my dad at Maddox and all of their kids had been taught by him. Every year all of the kids in the family said, 'I want Mr. Whisenand.' He was a total hero to them," she said.

The woman also told her: "I just wanted you to know how really much he meant to us. If there's ever a teacher in life you remember, for us it's Mr. Whisenand."

In addition to his wife, son and daughter, he is survived by his daughter, Teri Dee Whisenand.