Keith Eugene Garnick, 61, a small business owner, carpenter, commercial fisherman and artist with a passion for photography and stained glass work, died on Sunday, March 29, in Baranof Warm Springs.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, April 4, at Pioneer Park.
Born October 2, 1953, in Hot Springs, S.D., Keith moved to Alaska with his family the year it became a state – 1959. He grew up in Juneau where he eventually took over a custodial business, but he was truly a resident of Southeast Alaska.
He married the love of his life, Jackie Taylor Garnick, in Juneau in 1985, and the two spent decades living in Port Alexander and other rural communities, where he fished, worked construction, volunteered with fire and EMS crews and developed his skills as a stained glass artist.
The dream was to live remote, so in 2002 Keith and Jackie bought the M/V Wanderon – “a motorhome on the water” – and began a life exploring the beauty of Southeast Alaska. In the summer the couple could be found anchored in a bay anywhere along the inside passage.
Family remembers Keith for the jokester and tease that he was, always wanting to make people laugh. He was also an excellent cook and would spend many summer days canning and dehydrating organic food for the winter.
He and Jackie spent the last three winters caretaking Baranof Warm Springs.
In addition to his wife, Keith is survived by his mother Viona, brothers Steve (Robin) and Wayne (Shannon), son Justin (Tina), three grandsons, one granddaughter, one great-granddaughter, nine nieces and four nephews.
He was preceded in death by his son Ryan and father Lloyd.
