Robert Keeney:
CLASS OF 1969
East Bank High SchoolClass of 1969
East bank, WV
Davis & Elkins CollegeClass of 1977
Elkins, WV
West Virginia University - Creative ArtsClass of 1973
Morgantown, WV
Pratt Junior High SchoolClass of 1966
Pratt, WV
East Bank Elementary SchoolClass of 1963
East bank, WV
Robert's Story
When I left East Bank, I was torn between engineering and music. I tried engineering briefly before I decided that my heart was in music. Not a good choice. I found out that, for me, music was better as a hobby, so I gave up on music as a career. I just didn't want to work that hard. I left WVU with a great education, but no degree. I also didn't know what I wanted to do, but I had found who I wanted to do it with.
Sally and I were married in '74 and I finished school at Davis and Elkins - in business, of all things. We had two children, Harmony and Josh, and after struggling with the slow WV economy for several years, we packed up our bags and moved to NC, where things were much better for a young CPA.
Sally worked for UNC Public Television for several years, then went to work as a writer for the Herald-Sun newspaper in Durham. We lived in Sanford for a few years, where the CPA firm was located,then moved to Chapel Hill to be closer to Sally's job.
The CPA firm where I worked audited some government organizations and I stumbled into a job at a mental health center. (Yes, I know, it seems like a good fit.) I lasted 10 years there, then briefly tried a couple of other ventures before signing on as Controller at Alamance Community College, in Graham NC - near enough to commute from Chapel Hill. (In the movie Bull Durham, Susan Sarandon's character says she teaches English at Alamance.)
The 20+ years in Chapel Hill were very good years for the kids. Great schools and lots of the opportunities you'd expect to find in the home town of a major University.
Harmony took her name to heart, and became a very good jazz singer. She graduated from Appalachian State (the other Mountaineers)and performed around Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill (better known as the Research Triangle)until she moved to New York. I hear that if she can make it there, she'll make it anywhere. (I can't post her website here, but if you'd like to hear some clips, send me a message.)
Josh was also attracted to the stage, but back stage. He graduated from East Carolina U in Industrial Technology, but also got a degree in Film and Video Technology from a nearby community college, and works as a grip on films and a TV show, and in a variety of roles in theaters and shows.
Things went very well for me in the Community College System. NC has a state system of 58 colleges and I ...Expand for more
was eventually recruited to be a Vice President and CFO of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury, where I worked for nearly six years..
Sally gave up her job at the Herald-Sun after the move, but the newspaper business has been hard hit, so she's continuing to work as a freelance writer where ever she can get work. That's usually around the Triangle, so she split her time between Salisbury and Chapel Hill.
I stuck with music as a hobby, and sang in community choruses and theater in Elkins, WV and Sanford, NC (see my photos of me with a Swing Band and a shocking photo of a yound me as the Major General in Pirates of Penzance. Too funny!). While we were in Chapel Hill, I played in a community band and a swing band, and sang with a six-voice doo-wap group (Harmony got me into that one).
When I moved to Salisbury, I found that there are far fewer musicians here than in the Triangle, so my talents are in demand. I played clarinet in two concert bands - a community band and the Catawba College band. (Catawba is a small liberal arts college and needs community members to fill the parts.) I also played sax in both the Salisbury Swing Band and the Rowan Big Band All Stars. I worked much harder on my music than I ever had or that I would ever have believed possible.
I left Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in 2011 to take a similar position as CFO of Durham Technical Community College. Still in the same state-wide Community College System as Alamance and Rowan-Cabarrus. That got us back to Chapel Hill, which is right next to Durham. That made things easier for Sally, who continues to write freelance real estate articles for the Chapel Hill News. I continued to play in the Salisbury Swing Band while working in Durham, despite the nearly 2 hour drive each week, but gave up the other bands. I play informally with a group folks in Chapel Hill, but nothing serious, here.
In early 2015, I retired from Durham Tech and now split my time among my home in Chapel Hill, playing with the swing band in Salisbury and spending time on a piece of timber land near Galax, Virginia. Sally continues to freelance for the Chapel Hill News. Harmony is still in NYC where she works a day job at Goldman Sachs and sings occasionally. Josh continues to work in various theater and show venues in the Triangle
My Dad would say we're as happy as if we had good sense.
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