CELEBRATION OF AND TRIBUTE TO JOHN RAYMOND KEKACS John Raymond Kekacs, age 67, of Preston, ID passed away on Saturday, September 22, 2018, after a battle with a very nasty bacterial infection in his blood resulting in liver and kidney failure. John was preceded in death by his son John Andrew Kekacs of Utah and his father John Andrew Kekacs, Stratford, CT. John was born October 24, 1950 in Bridgeport, CT to John A. Kekacs and Grace Jean (Judson) Kekacs.
He grew up in Stratford, CT, attended school and graduated from Frank Scott Bunnell High School, Stratford, CT in 1969. In July 1969 John enlisted in the Air Force to serve his country. John did a tour of duty in Vietnam before being stationed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah in 1972.
He was discharged from the Air Force and remained at Hill AFB working as an Air Reserve Technician (ART) for the Air Force. He later became an Equipment Specialist and Program Manager for various munitions in the Airmunitions Directorate at Hill AFB. He continued his work as a munitions weapons expert until his retirement in September 2012.
John married LaRae Young of Myton, UT in March 1972. They had 3 children and were later divorced. John had a love of motorcycles.
He bought a Harley as a teenager and began racing flat track. When he wasn’t in school, he was riding his motorcycle. And it went on from there.
As his boys grew, he bought them dirt bikes and taught them to ride properly. Through his years of racing and riding, John learned many techniques of understanding and handling motorcycles safely and these were passed on to his sons. They learned early they were not allowed to ride their bikes without proper safety equipment.
They rode hard and fast and safety gear was a necessity. John thoroughly enjoyed dirt bike riding and racing with his boys. John was always quick with a joke.
With his wit, humor, and charm he would captivate any and all with stories and comments you were not expecting, which included his real-life situations. He faced many challenges throughout the years and he fought hard and always came out on top, continuing to retain his sense of humor, winning smile and his desire to go fast. So stands to reason, he would be found racing on the Salt Flats in Utah.
He married Marilyn McQuarrie in July of 1999; they were later sealed in the Logan, UT temple. John was a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and he retained a strong testimony of the Gospel and the principles it represents. His manner was to look for detail and things to make sense.
His attention was sparked by the principle of welfare and it became his favorite. The manner in which the Church Welfare Plan was laid out, managed and carried out to precise specifications of fairness and common sense was totally right to him. Next in John’s life, his favorite love became working in his garage restoring and building automobiles.
He built his boatail speedster from only a picture. He would have nuts, bolts and all kinds of car parts spread all over the garage and Marilyn figured he couldn’t possibly know where they all went. But he could tell you what each one was, what it was for and they all went back where they were supposed to.
Good thing his other favorite love (Marilyn) enjoyed helping him build his cars. He was uniquely mechanically inclined and had the ability to fix anything and he found great pleasure in this. He was Marilyn’s “go to” for answers to questions about most anything and his encouragement was priceless.
They were best friends and went everywhere together. It was important to John to have a beautiful yard and you would know that to drive by his house. John always found time to care for the yard.
He had to keep busy and he worked hard at everything he did. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn McQuarrie Kekacs; his sons, Paul (Jennifer) Kekacs of Roy, UT and Scott (Elisha) Kekacs of Maple Grove, Minnesota; his mother, Grace Jean Kekacs of Southbury, CT; his sister, Pamela (Peter) Masella of Newtown, CT; and his brother, Raymond (Susan) Kekacs of Southington, CT; and four nieces and several great-nieces and nephews in CT. Having no daughters, Marilyn’s daughters and grandchildren became his, Stefanie (James) Cragun of Ogden, UT and Kami (Kregg) Thomassen of Taylor, UT.
Altogether he had 17 grandchildren and 1 great granddaughter. Services will take place on October 5, 2018 at 11:00 am beginning at Roy City Cemetery, 5200 S. 2300 W. Roy, UT where there will be military honors and dedication of the grave. Immediately following, a Celebration of Life will be held in his honor at the LDS meeting house located at 5080 S. 3100 W. Roy, UT from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.
We would like attendees to share happy or crazy thoughts and remembrances they have of John. Cremation Services are being provided by Aaron’s Mortuary, 496 24th Street, Ogden, UT. Remembrances of John can be placed on this website.
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