Obituary for Keith Stewart Brady

Keith loved creation and loved the Creator.

On April 4, 1958, Keith married his childhood sweetheart, Myrna, and they began married life as ranch hands near Twin Butte.

On June 9, 1962, Keith and Myrna made another decision that would affect their lives forever — they were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Keith later recalled: “We learned … [from the Bible] that the earth and the beauties of creation we enjoyed would never be completely ruined by man’s careless actions. As I now look at the mountains it was with new meaning and understanding about how they came to be and why everything is there for a purpose.”

After their marriage, Keith and Myrna became parents to nine children — six boys and three girls. Over the following decades the Brady family grew to include 14 grandchildren, as well as great-grandchildren.

In July 1966, Keith accepted a job as a national park warden and he moved his young family to Banff National Park. They lived for a time at the Minnewanka ranger station. It was not unusual for the family to be sitting in the living room and see a massive grizzly bear walk across their front lawn.

In January 1972, Keith accepted a transfer to Waterton Lakes National Park, which would be the family home for the next 23 years. In the summers, the Brady boys loved to accompany their dad on overnight backpacking or horseback trips into the mountains. In the early fall, the whole family would often go camping in the mountains. It was a special time.

Keith later recalled: “It is difficult to describe the thoughts and emotions that one feels in the wilderness and solitude of the backcountry: what it’s like to ride [on horseback] out of the timber to the beginning of long open meadows of dwarf birch, willow and other vegetation associated with alpine tundra…. It is times like this when silence is truly deafening as creation and nature speak without words. It was time to express appreciation to the One who made all of this possible. Then, when I thought things couldn’t be more breathtaking, they would; with the blaze of fall colours that made everything take on an even more spectacular beauty.”

In 1995, Keith applied for and received an early retirement from the national parks service. Keith and Myrna moved to a beautiful acreage about 15 kilometres north of Waterton Park. Keith loved to explain to visitors the abundant flora and fauna on their acreage. Looking back on his retirement, Keith wrote: “In reality, Myrna and I have retired from working in the national parks but the new and real life is just beginning.”

In early 2021 Keith became very ill. He was greatly comforted by the resurrection hope, confident that in the coming paradise promised in the Bible, Jehovah God would resurrect him back to life along with countless millions of others (Psalm 37:29; John 5:28, 29). Near the end of his illness, Keith prayed with and for his family and quoted from memory Scriptures that he found especially encouraging.

While words may fail to convey the pain of losing Keith, we look forward to the time when words will fail to capture the joy of having Jehovah God bring Keith back to life, where he will have the privilege along with his family, friends and billions of others to help restore the earth to a paradise, and where old age, sickness and death will be “no more” (Isaiah 33:24; 65:21-25; Revelation 21:3, 4). Then Keith, and all who love creation and the Creator, will enjoy life to the very full.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to Snodgrass Funeral Homes

403-627-4864     www.snodgrassfuneralhomes.com