Keith J. Garnett

Well, if you are reading this, I must be gone. I entered the world on August of 1938; the middle of three boys born to Darrell and Elsie Garnett. I spent much of my life in the Sheboygan area, other than a few years in Alaska and London, UK. 

I was a graduate of Sheboygan Central 1957, UW-Madison B.S. Civil Engineering 1962, and received a Masters Degree of Engineering Management from the University of Alaska in 1966. 

My survivors are my spouse Christine, daughter Leslie (Tom) Horness, son Craig (Mary) Garnett and brother Bruce (Diane) Garnett. Also, my grandchildren Megan and Zachary Horness and Ashley, Grace, and Maggie Garnett, and great-grandsons Thomas Garnett Horness and Kolton and Cruz Gonzalez, all of whom I was proud of and loved. 

I am further survived by my brothers-in-law Pete (Robin) Coenen, John (Janice) Coenen, and Rick (Wendy) Coenen and sisters-in-law Carolyn (Henry) Saperstein and Terry Coenen, plus numerous nieces and nephews. I am also survived by the mother of my children, Elaine Kamper. I was preceded in death by my parents, brother John, grandson Keith Brandon Horness (whose death left a hole in my heart that never healed), and brother-in-law Paul Coenen. 

My childhood was full of good friends and adventures while growing up on the south side of Sheboygan. My life-long buddies were Neil, Donny, Henry (Jim), Bob, Lance and Jim with whom I shared many adventures, hunting, and skiing. In my early childhood, I started a life-long love for reading; mainly history. 

I enjoyed travel of all types: ships, planes, trains, riverboats, cars, etc. Chris and I visited each of the six continents a number of times; but regretted never getting to step foot on Antarctic. I enjoyed hunting, with many trips to the US west, Canada, Alaska, and a half-dozen countries in Africa. 

I spent two years on active duty as a platoon leader in a combat engineering company attached to an infantry brigade in Alaska. Following active duty and several years in the reserves, I left the military with the rank of Captain. 

After college work experience included several years at the Army Civilian Corps of Engineers in Alaska, one year in the paper industry in Green Bay, WI, and finally found something I was good at and liked-consulting engineering. I had a 25-year career with Donohue & Associates in Sheboygan, WI (started in ’67, became an Associate in 1971, Vice President in 1978, and President & CEO in 1979) helping build the company from a small Sheboygan firm to an organization of engineers/scientists/architects with offices and projects across the U.S., the near east, and Hong Kong. I enjoyed my career immensely, and was very proud of the team I helped assemble and their ability to compete with nationally recognized larger firms. After the ownership transition of Donohue, I spent two years in London traveling the world with the successor company before retiring in 1993. 

I participated in a number of professional engineering organizations including American Society of Civil Engineers and the Design Professionals Coalition. I was also a member of Mensa. Throughout my career, I was a good-natured guy, always willing to listen to both sides of an issue. I had a long-time relationship with the UW-Madison College of Engineering, serving on a number of committees. I enjoyed all things UW “Bucky Badger”. 

After retirement, Chris and I spent time between Cocoa Beach, Florida, Kohler, and our family cottage in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. 

I was a member of two churches: First United Lutheran Church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where I was a member in the choir. 

All in all, it was a great ride. 

A note from Chris: We lost our dear Patriarch at the age of 86 on October 10, 2024. In keeping with Keith’s wishes, there will be no funeral service. We will have a small, private family gathering in the near future. Because Keith loved to read, if you wish to make a donation in his memory, please do so to: Bookworm Gardens, 1415 Campus Drive, Sheboygan, WI 53081.