Kurt Keilhofer was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the late Richard and Bernadine Keilhofer, on August 21, 1956. He was born and raised in the city, but his love and passion was the great outdoors. He married his loving wife, Kathy, on September 10, 2017. He recently retired to enjoy living in a small community.

His desire to help others led him to volunteer at the Mapleton Volunteer Fire Department. He loved the camaraderie of the fire department, weekly equipment checks and trainings, and always volunteered to help in the community. By joining the fire department, he acquired an extended family. He would help anybody, no matter who you were. He was always willing to show others so they would learn. He just fit in. He got along with people and made an impact on any situation.

He loved the friendly banter in the firehouse, especially with his locker neighbor. He never had a negative word and spread positivity, encouragement, and kindness wherever he went. He took the opportunity to learn and welcomed input from his fire family. He fit like a glove. “Kurt gets it.” His knowledge made him a person that organizations wanted. He loved his community and was dedicated to his small town. He wanted to help his community become all it could for many generations to come.

He tinkered in small engine repair and maintenance with his grandson, who saw him as more of a father figure than Pap. He was the first riding a motorcycle in the spring and the last riding in the fall. He had winter and summer gear, safety gear, tools, gadgets, anything that could be useful. He was never unprepared, and if he found himself in a situation where he did not have the tools, his phone search engine became the tool. He was into his personal hobbies, weather station and HAM radio operations, and never missed an opportunity to play tickle-time, Barbies, or share a candy bar with his granddaughter. He lifted his family every morning with dad jokes.

By career, he was an over-the-road truck driver. He used to say he was seeing the world on someone else’s dime and wanted others to see the things he saw. He would say “safety first,” and this attitude earned him Driver of the Year in 2011.

He had an excellent work ethic and brought his knowledge to the fire department. He was great for referring others to manuals and may be studying or even writing God’s manuals. He truly enjoyed life and thought that people could choose to be miserable or not. He made an impact everywhere he went. We can rest easy knowing he was where he wanted to be, doing what he wanted to do.