|
Keller "Forced" to Retire After 62 Year Career "Harve's Place" Now Closed
(December 26, 2004) His Father, Harvey Gee Keller started in the barber business in 1925 in partnership with Robert Clark, buying him out in 1932. Harvey H. Keller, "Harve", entered barber school in 1941 after graduating from Odebolt High School. He joined his father in business in 1942 and has been at it ever since, except for serving in the army in Europe during WWII for three years. Harve did leave Odebolt to open a shop in Schleswig for two years. However, his dad had heart trouble so he sold out his Schleswig shop to move back and enter into partnership with his dad in the late 40‘s. In 1952 Harve bought out his father‘s part of the business. In 1988, about a year after his wife Mavis‘ death, he semi-retired, and has been working morning- only hours 7 days a week. Harve didn’t see a reason to give up his business until a recent event forced him into full retirement.
(Photo) Harve cutting Chuck Purdy's hair in the basement barber shop located at the NW corner of Main & 3rd Streets. Photo taken about 1952. About 7:30 on a morning in late August, 2004 there was a thunderstorm in progress as Harve was eating breakfast. All of a sudden there was a big flash of lightening, followed by a loud rumbling. His cereal shook, the table shook and dishes in the cupboard clattered. Harve didn’t know what was going on. His daughter and her husband, Cheri and Gary Stowe, who were visiting at the time, came out from their bedroom saying, "WHAT was that"? But things settled down so they assumed lightening had hit something. Harve didn’t think much more about it until a customer came into his shop about 9 o’clock and asked if he had seen what the lightening had done to the Lindquist building on the corner of 2nd and Maple. They went to look and saw that the top southwest corner of the building had been damaged and there were bricks all over the street next to it. Since there was a deck on the back of Harve’s second story apartment, they put a ladder up on the wall of the old bakery to take a look at the damage. They saw that the top east part of the Lindquist building was also seriously damaged and that bricks had fallen on the roof of the bakery building, collapsing a hole in it. City officials were notified and came to take a look. A couple hours later there was another rumbling and shaking as the weight of the bricks caused the old bakery roof to give way further, making a huge hole. This additional damage also started to bow the wall next to Harve’s apartment. The consensus was that Harve had better move out of his apartment, and move fast before his building was caught in a domino effect! And that also meant closing his business. And so, Harve’s 62 years of barbering came to a sudden halt. He closed his shop and "retired" at the age of 81.
(Photo) The barber shop area of the Odebolt Museum shows the barber chair purchased by Harvey Gee Keller about 1926. The exhibit features many historic photos that Harve kept displayed in his shop. He gave most of his life-long Odebolt history collection to the museum, gave many things to Goodwill Industries, gave things away to whoever wanted them, and finally managed to down-size enough to settle into the apartment. His daughter and husband helped him until they had to go back to Seattle. Then Cheri came back for the final move. The whole process took about 3 weeks. Harve didn’t want to retire. He felt pretty good, and liked being busy. He enjoyed contact with people, and he misses keeping up with what’s going on around town, hearing the local gossip and news from customers from surrounding towns. Harve's long-time customers miss him. Harve says life as a retired man is "lousy". Because people helped him move and put things away, he spends a lot of time trying to find things. And life is too quiet. He used to be up and at it early, working all morning in the shop. Now he gets up, showers and shaves, gets dressed, eats breakfast, gets the mail, reads the mail and by then it’s time for lunch! Harve agrees with a retired friend of his who says, "Domestic work takes all your time"! All those years of barbering lend themselves to many tales, some of which will be told in part two of this story, to be continued at a later date. Story based on an interview with Harve Keller in
December, 2004. |
The
Keller Barbershop has been located various places around town, the
latest being on the south side of 2nd Street between the building where
the Odebolt Bakery had been, and the dress shop that Mavis Keller had
operated. Some years ago Harve and Mavis had remodeled the
upstairs of their building into an apartment and Harve continued to live
in it after Mavis passed away.
Packing
started that day although Harve ended up sleeping in the building for
about a week. He found a small community apartment to rent, but
since he had his apartment, his shop, and belongings throughout the lower
level and basement of his building, it was not an easy task to condense
them into a small apartment.