Father James Hayes Keene, SJ, former senior systems analyst at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, died on October 2, 2024, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California. He was 83 years old, a Jesuit for 65 years and a priest for 51 years.
Fr. Keene was born in St. Louis on August 30, 1941, the son of Harry M. Keene and Gertrude (Hayes) Keene. He graduated from St. Louis University High School and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Florissant, Missouri, in 1959. Originally trained as a mathematician, by the 1970s Fr. Keene got involved with computers both as a high school teacher and later as a systems administrator at the university level. He received a bachelor’s in classics and a master’s in education in counseling from Saint Louis University; a master’s in mathematics from Louisiana State University; and a master’s in data processing from Washington University in St. Louis. He taught mathematics and science at Chaplain Kapaun High School in Wichita, Kansas (1966-1967) and De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis (1967-1969). He studied theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, and the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was ordained a priest in St. Louis on May 11, 1973.
After ordination, Fr. Keene returned to the high school classroom teaching math at De Smet Jesuit High School and math and computer science at St. Louis University High. In 1985 he moved into university work as database manager at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, a post he held until 1995. In 1995, he came to Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles as a systems administrator and analyst until he retired in 2016. His last ministry was as chaplain at the Nazareth House retirement center in Los Angeles before moving to the Jesuit health care center in Los Gatos in 2021.
Fr. Keene is survived by a sister, Marilyn Keene Mier, of Ballwin, Missouri, and dear friends Scott Henning of Los Angeles and Tony Querciagrossa of Walnut Creek, California.
A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Monday, November 4, 2024, at 11:15 a.m. at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center (300 College Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95930), followed by inurnment at 1:45 p.m. at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery (490 Lincoln Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050). The funeral will be available via livestream.
Donations in memory of Fr. Keene may be made to the Jesuits West Province of the Society of Jesus, P.O. Box 68, Los Gatos, CA 95031, or to a charity of your choosing.