John Keuvelaar, age 88, of Birchwood, passed away Friday morning, August 7, 2020 at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga. He was born on August 2, 1932 in Paterson, NJ, the son of the late Elbert and Dorothy (Knopps) Keuvelaar.
John retired as a First Sergeant with the US Marine Corps having served both in Korea and Vietnam. He also served as a drill instructor, a recruiter and also as a guard at the US Embassy in Dublin, Ireland. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal with one Star, Korean Service Medal with two Stars and the Vietnamese Service Medal. After his retirement, he was a longtime resident of Denver, CO, Fallon, NV, and recently relocated to Birchwood. John was an avid fisherman.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Frances (Cummins) Keuvelaar of Birchwood; his sons, Albert (Cathy Scalf) Keuvelaar of Middleboro, KY and Timothy (Jennifer) Keuvelaar of Orlando, FL; daughter, Maureen (Gregory) Bartlett of Birchwood; eight grandchildren, Sarah, Ryan, Allyson, Katherine, Jared, Alex, Scott and Molly; two great grandchildren, William and Andrew; and sister, Paulina (Michael) Cooley of Vista, CA.
John will be laid to rest in the East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery in Knoxville. A military service for John will be conducted at a later date.
Please share your memories of John on his online guest register at
www.vanderwallfh.com
.
The family is being cared for by the Vanderwall Funeral Home in Dayton.