John J. “Jack” Keller, founder and chairman emeritus of technical publishing company J.J. Keller & Associates, died Wednesday, June 13, at his Wisconsin home. He was 88. His sons Robert, chairman and chief executive officer, and James, president and chief operating officer, said their father died about 5 a.m.
“We are extremely sorry to advise that Chairman Emeritus Jack Keller passed away peacefully in his sleep last night,” Robert and James Keller said in a statement posted on the company’s website.
Jack Keller founded J.J. Keller & Associates in 1953 to service regulatory problems for the paper industry and transportation services. The organization was incorporated in 1958 and continued to provide regulatory consulting and publishing nationwide. From a one-man consulting shop, the corporation has grown into a giant in the trucking and regulatory industry, employing more than 1,200 associates.
In 1991, the J.J. Keller Foundation Inc. was established. Shortly thereafter, the John J. & Ethel D. Keller Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region Inc. was created; since that time, more than $18 million has been given to charities. Keller was inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Appleton (Wis.) West High School Hall of Fame in 2004.
A Mass of Resurrection will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 19, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 500 West Marquette St. in Appleton. Entombment will be in Star of Hope Mausoleum in Appleton. Visitation will be held Monday, June 18, at St. Pius X from 3 to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the John J. & Ethel D. Keller Donor Advised Fund at the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region Inc.
Keller was preceded in death by his wife, Ethel, in December 2004.
