December 11, 1961 -
November 12, 2019

Keith was born in Mount Vernon December 11, 1961 to Kay and Denny Wendland.

After battling Stage 4 kidney cancer for 11 months, he passed away at his Burlington home November 12, 2019. He was surrounded by the love of family and friends.

Keith always loved being outdoors. He spent many weekends hiking, camping, and fishing with his long-time friend Ray. Keith and Ray knew each other since high school, and were roommates for several years. Their friendship was a constant in Keith's life, and usually included talking about fishing if they were not actually fishing.

After graduating from Mount Vernon High School in 1980, Keith enjoyed his time working for the Youth Conservation Corps building and maintaining U.S. Forest Service trails. This job is where he met his friend Jeff, who also became a roommate. Keith, Ray, and Jeff had many adventures together including the Bowron Lakes canoe circuit, and a trip to Maui.

Fishing was a passion throughout Keith's life. He loved the annual salmon and halibut fishing trips to Canada with three buddies, and the tranquility of fishing at Fawn Lake in British Columbia. He enjoyed planning and hosting the annual family reunion BBQ held the weekend after the annual fishing trip. He took great pride in cooking fresh salmon and halibut over a wood fire for his family and friends.

Keith liked the challenge of fixing things. Taking something apart, figuring out what was wrong, and putting it back together again in good working order gave him great satisfaction.

He spent a lot of time woodworking with his beloved Grandpa Kenneth (Watkinson). These skills along with his natural interest in how things worked produced excellent mechanical skills that served him well while working his way through the Skagit Valley College Diesel Power Technology Program, which led to a 36-year career at PACCAR Technical Center. Keith enjoyed and valued his work at PACCAR.

Keith met his wife Helen at PACCAR in 1987. They were married two years later, after a romantic marriage proposal in Hawaii, and celebrated 30 years of marriage in September 2019. Their life together was full of travel, boating, family, and friends. Trips to Hawaii, Fawn Lake, BC (where they spent their honeymoon and many vacations in the following years), Cayman Islands, Aruba, Alaska, Arkansas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Idaho, Michigan, Washington DC, and Europe were highlights.

He spent 5 years rebuilding a 1965 Chevy Malibu with his Uncle Steve. The end result is a beautiful red car with white leather interior that won several awards at local car shows.

His love of the outdoors included working in his yard and planting a garden every year. He also took pride in maintaining his home. Taking care of his family was very important to Keith. An example of how he showed his love was his diligence keeping up the yards, vehicles and household maintenance for his Grandma Alice and his Mom.

He and Helen were very appreciative of the support provided all last year from family, PACCAR friends, and many other friends. They were grateful for every visit, call, card, message, food, yard work, shoveling snow, gifts, etc. that were lovingly provided.

Keith is survived by his wife Helen, sister Carolyn (Tom Hicks), brother Dean, nephew Brian, nieces Jordan and Megan, Uncle Steve and Aunt Pat Wendland, Aunt Linda and Uncle Mel Lang, and numerous cousins. We all miss him every day.