 |
For
those
of
you Who have tasted the wine, You’ve come to understand The vision of a friend of mine Please fill your glass When you are able, To Robert Keenan And toast from your table He lived a life And now has past May 13 of ‘24 Until the Friday last. Thank you all For knowing good wine And being such friends Of Michael's and mine. --Jennifer Keenan |
Robert H. Keenan, 1924-2006
San
Francisco
Native,
Navy
Veteran,
Vintner,
Entrepreneur,
and
Sportsman
Robert
H.
Keenan,
born
May
13th,
1924
to
first
generation
San
Franciscans,
Hugh
and
Pat
Keenan,
died
peacefully
in
his
home
on
November
17th,
2006
from
complications
with
his
twenty-year
struggle
with
emphysema.
Growing
up
on
Laguna
Street
in
San
Francisco,
Robert
attended
Saint
Ignatius
High
School
and
went
on
to
Stanford
University
in
1942.
After
two
years
at
Stanford,
Robert
joined
the
Navy
and
trained
to
become
a
dive-bomber
pilot
flying
off
aircraft
carriers.
During
his
training
in
Mobile,
Alabama,
one
day
Robert
"borrowed"
the
base
commander's
plane
and
while
on
his
joyride
ran
out
of
gas
and
had
to
crash
land
in
a
farmer's
field
somewhere
near
the
base.
The
Navy,
desperate
for
new
flying
officers
who
were
willing
to
fly
off
aircraft
carriers,
managed
to
overlook
this
incident
and
gave
Robert
his
wings
in
1945.
Post
war
flying
hijinks
continued
with
stunts
such
as
flying
under
the
Golden
Gate
Bridge
and
landing
on
the
take
off
runway
at
Alameda
Naval
Air
Station
one
foggy
morning
in
1960
very
nearly
colliding
with
then
Vice
President
Nixon's
plane
as
it
awaited
take
off
clearance.
Back
at
Stanford
in
the
fall
of
1946,
Robert
continued
his
education,
majoring
in
political
science
and
European
history,
and
starring
on
the
tennis
team
in
his
senior
year.
After
Stanford,
Robert
entered
into
the
insurance
business,
eventually
becoming
a
partner
in
the
Fred
S.
James
Company.
In
1953
Robert
met
and
married
Hillsborough
debutante
Mariana
Casserly.
Through
Mariana
and
her
parents,
he
was
introduced
to
the
world
of
fine
wine
and
fly
fishing,
two
things
that
became
life
long
passions.
Real
estate
drew
his
interest
away
from
the
insurance
business
and
in
1966,
Robert,
along
with
his
partner,
Frank
McGinnis,
founded
the
Buena
Vista
Land
Company
with
the
purchase
of
several
apartment
complexes
in
the
Monterey
Peninsula.
Robert
remained
the
managing
general
partner
of
the
company
for
forty
years,
overseeing
all
acquisitions
and
major
decisions.
But
Robert's
greatest
real
estate
find
came
in
1974.
While
looking
for
a
site
to
start
a
winery
in
the
Napa
Valley,
he
came
across
170
acres
and
an
abandoned
winery
high
in
the
Mayacamas
mountains
west
of
St.
Helena
in
what
is
today
known
as
the
Spring
Mountain
Appellation.
Without
any
formal
training
in
viticulture
or
oenology,
Robert
felt
certain
that
to
make
great
wines
that
could
compete
with
the
great
first
growths
that
he
had
fallen
in
love
with,
he
would
have
to
be
up
in
the
mountains
where
the
terrain
would
be
more
stressful,
not
down
in
the
valley
where
the
soil
would
be
too
rich.
Robert's
proudest
accomplishment
in
the
wine
business
was
being
one
of
the
first
producers
of
Merlot
as
a
high
end
stand
alone
varietal.
To
prove
that
Spring
Mountain
Merlot
deserved
to
be
on
the
same
stage
as
the
greatest
Merlots
in
the
world,
he
staged
three
blind
tastings
with
the
great
Chateau
Petrus,
which,
to
the
shock
of
many,
ended
in
a
virtual
draw.
The
one
great
passion
that
Robert
was
able
to
enjoy
his
entire
life
was
the
tending
and
care
of
his
one
hundred
bush
rose
garden
at
his
home
in
San
Mateo.
Known
by
certain
family
members
as
the
"Mad
Pruner",
he
applied
himself
to
this
hobby
as
he
did
to
all
his
pursuits--always
trying
to
set
an
example
for
his
children
that
excellence
was
the
only
option.
Robert
is
survived
by
his
two
daughters,
Dean
Keenan
of
Alameda,
Suzanne
Keenan
of
San
Francisco;
his
son
Michael
Keenan
of
Oakland;
his
four
grandchildren,
Reilly,
Madison,
Whitney,
and
Nicholas;
his
daughter
in-law
Jennifer
Keenan
and
son
in-law
Steve
Urbiztondo.
A
private
ceremony
will
be
held
at
the
winery.