Lawrence J. Keegan

Lawrence (Larry) J. Keegan, 86, of Granger, died on Monday, February 21, 2022 at Belltower Health and Rehabilitation Center in Granger.

Larry was born on June 25, 1935 in Chicago, IL to the late John and Eleanor (Gleason) Keegan. Also preceding him in death are a brother, Michael Keegan and a grandson, Brian Regan.

On April 11, 1959 in Chicago, he married Carolyn Vitellaro.  She survives along with two daughters: Lisa (Paul) Regan of Elkhart and Jennifer Sandstrom of Gurnee, IL; one grandson, Kevin (Payge Scanlon Boswood) Regan; one sister, Patricia Johnson of Missouri and one brother, Jack (Sharon) Keegan of South Carolina.

Larry worked for Firestone Tire and then Heinold & Feller Firestone in Valparaiso as the manager.  He was last employed as the manager for the Porter County Co-Op before retiring in 2001.  In his spare time, he enjoyed working on cars, especially his 1973 Dodge Charger.  Larry loved spending time with his grandchildren showing them how to tinker on cars & other mechanical things.  He was a member of St. Monica Catholic Church in Mishawaka.

Larry was a life-long Indy Car fan.  He was known to say the following phrases when he attended races: “You can never have enough ice,” “You can never be too cold,” and “It’s clearing up over there.” On several occasions he would be one of the few fans sitting in the rain in the grandstands waiting for the race to start!  Larry passed on his love of racing to his daughters and his grandson.

A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 11:00 at St. Anthony De Padua Catholic Church, 2310 E. Jefferson Blvd, South Bend, where visitation will be held one hour prior to services.  The Rev. Jacob Meyer will officiate.  Hartzler-Gutermuth-Inman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

The family would like to acknowledge the wonderful staff of the Center for Hospice Care, as well as the staff at Belltower for their loving care of Larry.  They would also like to thank Payge for all of the extra attention she provided over the last few weeks.

In memory of Larry, memorial contributions may be made to The Center for Hospice Care, 501 Comfort Place, Mishawaka, IN 46545.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Lawrence J. Keegan, please visit our floral store.