In 30 years of teaching, Debrah Poveromo has opened her classroom to just three student teachers. By her own account, the State College Area High School history teacher is ‘very particular about my classes.’
But Andrew Keim made her cut.
‘I was impressed with him from the moment I met him,’ said Poveromo, who doubles as social-studies coordinator at State High. ‘He was so articulate and mature, yet witty and funny. He had such a nice way about him. The kids just loved him.’
Keim, who went on from his student-teaching gig to become a world-history teacher at State High, had been awarded tenure this spring, Poveromo said. He had just completed his third year as a full-time faculty member at the school, where Keim, 32, also advised the Little Lions rugby team.
‘He’s really, really going to be missed,’ Poveromo said.
Less than a week since his sudden death at a State College baseball game, Keim’s friends and family remembered him in interviews as a compassionate teacher and committed friend who built lasting bonds.
Many knew him simply as ‘Schweppe’ — a childhood nickname that stuck for decades.
‘How many guys do you know who have a dozen good friends?’ said Rob Jeanmenne, a local dentist who grew up with Keim in York. ‘ … He’s the guy who, when he walked in, he lifted us all up.’
He was also ‘the heart and soul’ of the Indians, the Centre Sluggers league team for which Keim played as catcher, Jeanmenne said.
In the innings before Keim collapsed Wednesday evening at Babe Ruth fields, friends said, he was playing very well.
‘He was one of those guys you stick in and have do anything because he was so athletic,’ said teammate Misha Kononov.
But sometime during the game against the Yankees, another local team, Keim began feeling ill. At one point, Kononov said, he dialed 911 for his friend; still, Keim didn’t want an ambulance.
He stayed at the game but pulled himself out of play, sitting along the sidelines in a chair. Perhaps 10 minutes after he sat out, he turned to Kononov’s wife, Justine Kononov, and said that maybe he should get an ambulance, after all.
She dashed for help, but within moments, Keim had slumped over, observers said.
Jeanmenne and his brother, local radiologist Pat Jeanmenne, both at the ballpark, immediately sprung to action, administering chest compressions and other medical help.
‘Everybody came’ to Keim’s assistance, Rob Jeanmenne said. Some went to help direct the ambulance when it arrived; some called Keim’s relatives.
Others helped cut his shirt off and dug through first-aid kits ‘to find anything to keep him breathing,’ Jeanmenne said.
‘It was people I never knew before,’ he said. ‘It was guys from the other team. They didn’t balk at it. They weren’t afraid of it. They just stepped up.
‘Of all the bad stuff that happened that night, it was amazing to see everyone step up,’ Jeanmenne went on.
He estimated about 35 people were in attendance for the mid-week game.
Ferguson Township police were the first emergency responders on the scene, followed by medics from Centre LifeLink. They took Keim to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Keim suffered a ‘cardiac event,’ Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers said, attributing the death to natural causes. He said Keim had suffered heart disease.
His passing has shaken State High. The school district’s superintendent, Richard Mextorf, wrote to employees last week that ‘my heart goes out to all of you.’
Keim ‘was willing to do anything for you, to make you happy,’ said Justine Kononov, who is another State High teacher.
She called Keim an exceptionally fair teacher who helped his students debunk social stereotypes through provocative classroom exercises. In addition, she said, he was a powerful lecturer who often used his dog, Lloyd, an adopted mutt, as a reference point in classroom conversation.
Pushing the rules, Keim, a State College resident, was known to bring Lloyd to school occasionally after the work day. Loved ones remembered his edge warmly.
‘I’ve had probably four different people over the past couple days tell me that Schweppe was their best friend,’ said Keim’s older brother Jonathan Keim, of Bellefonte. ‘I think it was just that he always had the right word to say, especially an attentive ear. He always had time for people, and he just cared deeply about people.
‘Frankly, I think that’s what made him a good teacher,’ he added.
The youngest of three brothers, Andrew Keim was an alumnus of Penn State and of Lock Haven University. Shortly after finishing his undergraduate work at Penn State, he realized the corporate world ‘wasn’t right for him,’ Jonathan Keim said.
He said his brother somewhat regretted that he hadn’t delved more deeply into history at Penn State. On top of that, he said, Andrew Keim saw the happiness that Jonathan’s wife, Beth Keim, derived from her teaching job at State High.
Andrew soon figured that teaching history at the high school level ‘might be a good match for him,’ Jonathan Keim said. He went back to school, enrolling in classes at Lock Haven to prepare for a teaching career.
‘I think it turned out to be a really good match,’ Jonathan Keim said.
Poveromo advocated for Andrew Keim to be hired as a full-time State High faculty member. She said he burnished a solid reputation at the school, having been selected recently to serve on a leadership committee created by Principal Craig Butler.
Only 10 teachers out of roughly 40 applicants were picked for seats on the new committee, Poveromo said.
‘He had such a huge heart and compassion for the underdog,’ Poveromo said. ‘I think that’s a part of his legacy. The kids just loved him, and I think it was because he was fun. … You never knew what he was going to say.’
That joy extended to the sports arena, where Keim ‘was always making sure we all were having fun,’ Jeanmenne said.
‘The network of friends and family he created was just amazing,’ Jeanmenne said. ‘He kept in touch with everyone at all times. That’s definitely one of his legacies among his personal friends.
‘We will never forget him,’ he went on. ‘We will hang out and have fun because that’s what he wanted to do.’
In addition to his brother Jonathan and sister-in-law, Beth Keim, both of Bellefonte, Andrew Keim is survived by a brother, Steve Keim, of Colorado; his father, Leo Keim, of York; his mother, Marcia O’Connor, of Clearwater, Fla.; and his maternal grandmother, Doris Young, of Mountainville, Pa. Also surviving are two nephews, Isaac and Eli Keim, of Bellefonte.
Steve Keim plans to adopt Andrew Keim’s beloved dog, Lloyd, Jonathan Keim said.
Viewings are scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College. Another viewing will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, to be followed by a service at the same location.
A separate, graveside service will follow the gathering at the funeral home. A celebratory picnic is scheduled for roughly 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Millhouse at Restek Corporation, 110 Benner Circle, Bellefonte.
Earlier coverage: State High Teacher Keim ‘Will Be Sorely Missed,’ Superintendent Writes
