State High Teacher Keim ‘Will Be Sorely Missed,’ Superintendent Writes

UPDATE @ 10:10 a.m. Monday: StateCollege.com has posted a more thorough article about Andrew Keim. It includes details about planned viewings and services at Koch Funeral Home. Follow this link for the most recent coverage and information: State High’s Keim Remembered For ‘Huge Heart And Compassion’; Services Scheduled

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Andrew Keim, 32, a State College Area High School teacher, collapsed while playing baseball about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday at Babe Ruth fields, authorities reported Thursday.

Keim was pronounced dead a short time later at Mount Nittany Medical Center, said Scott Sayers, the Centre County coroner.

Sayers said Keim had heart disease and suffered a ‘cardiac event’ while he was on the field. Sayers attributed the death to natural causes.

Keim, a member of the local Indians team, had been playing in a Centre Sluggers league game against the Yankees, a spectator said. People in the stands immediately dialed 911 when Keim fell.

Ferguson Township police were the first emergency responders on the scene and found Keim unconscious, township police Chief Diane Conrad said. She said they administered CPR and used an automated external defibrillator until Centre LifeLink medics arrived.

The medics took Keim to the medical center.

Keim just finished his third year of teaching at State High, where he taught world history in the school’s South Building.

‘All of us at State College Area School District were deeply saddened this morning with the news of Andrew’s passing,’ Superintendent Richard Mextorf wrote Thursday in an e-mail message to school employees. ‘His presence will be sorely missed by many colleagues and students.’

Mextorf noted that Keim’s sister-in-law, Beth Keim, is a chemistry teacher at State High.

‘My heart goes out to all of you in this time of mourning,’ he wrote.

More information will be posted at StateCollege.com as it becomes available.