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 illiam (Bill) Keasby, died of an apparent heart attack Aug. 29 at a hospital in Eugene, Ore., after collapsing while playing tennis. Bill will be especially remembered by all of us not only for the many years of valuable service he provided to the translation profession, but especially as a friend and mentor to many.
Bill loved languages,
nature, singing, and judging from his performance on the dance floor,
dancing. He had a great appreciation of humor of all kinds.
William P. Keasbey, 74, a Foreign Service officer, was a native of Chicago and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where he also received a master's degree in economics. He served in the Army in Germany. was posted to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Helsinki, Moscow and Duesseldorf, Germany. He moved from Bethesda to Eugene last year.
He began his Foreign Service career in 1957 and was assigned largely as an economic officer. After he retired in the late 1970s, he was a freelance translator of Russian, Finnish and German for such clients as corporations, government agencies and individuals.
Mr. Keasbey sang in the State Department Choir and a Russian choir in the Washington area, and played clarinet with musical groups that included the Kings Park Band. He volunteered as a hike leader with the Sierra Club and was a member of the American Translators Association, Canoe Cruisers, the Christian Science Church in Chevy Chase and the Audubon Society. His other interests included chess.
Mr. Keasbey was an active member of the German Language, Slavic Languages, and Nordic Languages divisions of the ATA. He was Language Chair of ATA's Russian-English accreditation program. He was featured as the Translator Profile in the July, 1993 issue of the Sci-Tech Translation Journal.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Doramay Keasbey of Eugene; two children, Tamara Porreca of Westmont, N.J., and James Keasbey of Pflugerville, Tex.; two sisters; a brother; and six grandchildren. Our most heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family and our thoughts and prayers will be with them at this time of sorrow.
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