A Mount Albion native with a distinguished military record was killed in a traffic collision earlier this month in Alberta.
Alfred Ian Keep died in the crash on the Trans-Canada highway just west of Calgary on July 2.
He was 61.
Keep retired from the Canadian Forces as a sergeant in 2009 after serving 32 years with the Canadian Military Engineers.
He joined the Forces in Charlottetown in September 1977 and was posted to 1 Combat Engineer Regiment (CER) upon completing his basic combat engineer training. While with CER, he completed his parachute training and was soon posted to 2 CER Petawawa as a member of the Jump Troop.
While in 2 CER from 1980 to 1985, Keep was promoted to corporal and completed his combat diver course. He was able to go on a few exchanges with the U.S. Navy Seals in Coronado and in California as a combat diver during this tour, earning his U.S. Navy Parachutist Wings.
While with 2 CER, Keep deployed to both Cyprus and to Kosovo.
He was next posted to 4 CER in Germany for six years during which time he also managed to get his German Para wings. He returned to Canada with a posting to range maintenance in CFB Suffield, Alberta in 1991.
A promotion to master corporal in 1998 resulted in a posting to 1 CER where he remained until 2004 when he was posted to Camp Wainwright as a sergeant. He was then transferred to Range Control where he retired almost 10 years ago.
Following his retirement, Keep returned to the Medicine Hat area and spent much of his retirement travelling. He frequently visited Texas, where his wife, Lourdes Bricso Moss, owns and operates a resort.
Keep was a committed runner and frequent participant in marathons.
A celebration of Keep’s life will be held Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Birch Hill Church.
