Angelo Alberto Keene

He’d have cringed at being in the spotlight.

Angelo was a complex person, flawed in the way that we all are, but he dedicated himself to doing the best that he could as a father, a husband, and as a guiding force to his colleagues - all despite the circumstances.

In recent years, I think he tried to offer the same dedication to himself as well.

In his own words, taken from an interview when asked about resilience –

“…sometimes you need to stop and listen to your significant others/body/conscience even when you really want to press ahead. Sometimes the ‘gut feeling’ is right. If you don’t take a pause, you may be forced to when you don’t want to. Arguing with your body never ends well; you will lose eventually.”

As his career slowed down, Angelo filled the time by exploring multiple artistic outlets, with published works spanning digital art, photography, 3D rendering, and writing. He had a sweet tooth, and though he was never able to go, he often spoke of his desire to see Japan.

Angelo brought humor to nearly every aspect of his life, including his own passing. His children wish they could be sharing a laugh about it with him now. If you never met him, you might assume I'm being insensitive, but he would have wanted it that way. If you've been on the receiving end of one of his blisteringly dry dad jokes, you would know.

To quote –

“Q: What’s the leading cause of dry skin?

A: Towels”

Angelo will be deeply missed in all the little spaces where we might have heard his laugh, or his cleverly rewritten song lyrics, and certainly during every after-dinner ice cream (enjoyed regardless of the weather).

Angelo is survived by his wife, Pam, and his two adult children, Ash and Andrew; as well as his brothers and sisters, whom I know he was grateful to see.

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Excerpts from his artist’s statement:

Angelo Keene, born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1963, has been a resident of Tucson, Arizona, since 2000.

He met his wife Pam in 1979/1980 at Central High School in Springfield, Missouri, where they married shortly after graduation from college, and are the parents of two adult children, also residing in Arizona.

Angelo received his B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Missouri - Columbia in 1985, and he has been an embedded software engineer, working in and around the defense industry since 1986, with an occasional management position thrown in as punishment.

His main hobbies are digital art, photography, occasional poetry, 3D rendering, and bad jokes.

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Most influential albums:

Wendy Carlos - Sonic Seasonings: "Fall", "Spring"

Isao Tomita - Snowflakes are Dancing

Synergy - Cords

Carl Sagan / Various Artists - The music from Cosmos

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Links to his work:

Flickr - His gallery of photography and digital works

Visual Art Journal Issue #9 - starting on page 84

Canvas Rebel Interview

Thank you so much to everyone who's reached out over the last two weeks; it's meant a lot to hear from so many of you. For those interested, we'd like to extend an open invitation to a Celebration of Life for Angelo on February 7th, from 1pm-3pm MST. This will be a small, casual event at our home, and a light reception will be provided; please feel free to bring your own beverages if you like. If you're planning on attending, please DM or email me directly at pkeene2@cox.net for address details.