Obituaries
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 6, 2005
Gregory Broukal, sales representative
Marshfield, Wis. — Gregory Broukal, a sales representative who started his career in retail, has died. He was 53 and had been battling cancer.
He carried lines including Mantua Mfg. and Perdue Furniture, and traveled across Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Before becoming a rep, he worked for retailers Wausau Furniture and Mirman's, both in Wausau, Wis.
An avid outdoorsman, Broukal enjoyed snowmobiling, boating and hunting, and volunteered for years at the World Championship Snowmobile Derby.
Survivors include his wife, father, a sister, three sisters-in-law, two nieces, two nephews, his mother-in-law, two great-nieces and one great-nephew.
Bill Keller, retired Keller CEO, chairman
Fort Myers, Fla. — William H. "Bill" Keller, former CEO and chairman of case goods producer Keller Mfg. Co. in Corydon, Ind., has died here. He was 87.
A native of Corydon, Keller joined his family's furniture manufacturing business in 1939 after graduating with a business degree from the University of Southern California.
He succeeded his father, the late Charles Keller, as president in 1955. He went into semi-retirement in 1991 when Robert Byrd succeeded him as president, while continuing to serve as Keller's chairman until 1998.
Keller maintained a strong interest in the company after his retirement.
Danny Utz, who worked at Keller's Corydon plant from 1973 to 2004, told the Corydon Democrat that he'd received a letter from Keller last year asking about the business.
"Even though he was living in (Florida), he still had something to say," Utz said. "Keller was his life. He never really retired."
The company's board of directors recently decided to exit the furniture business.
Keller's survivors include his wife, two daughters, a son, two stepsons, three stepdaughters, four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to the Sanibel Island (Fla.) Library Fund, or to an organization of the donor's choice.
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