Louis George Keil was born September 24, 1884 on the family farm in Moniteau County, Missouri. He was the fifth child and third son of William and Louisa Keil. They eventually had twelve children (six sons and six daughters).

It is not known when Louis first came to Tacoma, but he worked at the Northern Pacific Railroad shops, as did his brothers John, Ed and Neal at some points in their lives. He left the railroad shops and went to work as a motorman on the Tacoma street car line. This almost ended in his death. When his car reached the end of the line, it was the motorman's job to grab the rope and move the trolley shaft to the other end to go in the opposite direction. One time when Louis stepped out from behind the street car, an automobile hit him, and he was tossed thru the windshield. His jugular vein was cut as well as some nerves on his face and neck. We remember the scar on his neck under the left ear and one side of his mouth didn't quite match the other when he talked.

After leaving Tacoma in the late teens, he moved to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Canada and operated a wheat ranch near there. Around this time he divorced his first wife, Jennie. A few years later he married Laura Hall, a widow with three children, Lloyd, Lenora and Lee.

In 1928, they went to Missouri where he was a farmer until they joined his brother Frank P. Keil and his family when their moved to Tacoma in August 1933. Louis worked at one of the lumber mills on the Tacoma tide flats. They lived first in Fircrest and then in the 6200 block of South Tacoma Way.

Laura died March 1, 1940 from injuries received in an auto accident. Louis never remarried. He loved to dance and had many lady friends at the dances held at the South Tacoma Community Center. He lived at 5844 South Birmingham Street at the time of his death June, 14, 1962.

~ By Pauline M. Miller and Raymond Keil