David Nicholas Keep's Obituary
David Nicholas Keep, age 58, passed away peacefully in Lakeland on November 3, 2022, after suffering several cardiac arrests and having weeks of truly wonderful nursing care at Lakeland Regional Hospital. His beloved wife Elizabeth was holding his hand, and he was surrounded with love, prayers, and messages from his friends and family during his days in the hospital. He had been living with a heart-failure diagnosis for 9 years, and in typical Dave fashion, defied the odds to live his life with enormous energy and love.
His death may have been quiet, but Dave rarely was. He was a big man with an exuberant personality. Dave embraced the world with energy, creativity, enthusiasm, constant new ideas, great compassion, and enormous laughter. Dave was a proud South Londoner who cheered on Millwall and insisted that London is the greatest city in the world. David was born on February 13, 1964 and was raised alongside his older brother Richard by their beloved and hard-working mother Nellie Constable Keep. David was an adventurous, intelligent, and very creative child, which meant he was pretty constantly getting up to shenanigans. As he grew up, that energy and creativity filtered into pursuing counseling classes, local amateur dramatic theatre, and a series of jobs—including one of his favourites, working at Waterstones bookstore, where he introduced a graphic novels section. Even when young, Dave liked to pretend he was a grumpy curmudgeon, but in reality, he had a big heart and great compassion, especially for children and those suffering from injustice. If Dave loved you, he loved fiercely. He was David, Dave, or Mac to those who loved him. Dave’s friends became his family, and he became theirs.
In 2010, Dave decided to start a podcast and asked for a recommendation for a co-host, which is how he met Elizabeth. By the time the first episode of Professor Dave’s Ark in Space podcast was broadcast in March of 2011, Dave and Elizabeth were friends, and as they recorded together over the months, talking and introducing their friends to each other, they fell in love. Dave proposed to her twice-- once in Florida and once in the Hundred Acre Wood in England (because he wanted to ask her again on his own soil). She said an enthusiastic yes both times! Dave and Elizabeth married in Lakeland on June 22, 2013 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lakeland. Their love story is a modern fairy tale, including the struggles with immigration just to be together. Dave was finally able to become a US Resident in 2015, and he moved to Lakeland, Florida to join Elizabeth and live happily ever after. This year, they celebrated their 9th anniversary on the beach in Clearwater, Florida.
Dave’s Funeral Mass will be at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, December 10, 2022, at 10:30 am.
Instead of flowers which will fade, Dave would want us to help children in need. Two of his favorite charities are Project Night Night and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Dave loved telling stories, particularly to make us laugh, so the best way to remember him is to share our memories together.
Richard Keep, David’s brother, remembers: When David was young, he had a collection of action men. His pride and joy had a cord you pulled and it spoke various commands. David took it in the bath, and it never sounded right again... In the Summer of 2009, we watched our beloved Millwall lose at Wembley in a play-off final. It was a great day together! David was your friend, but he was my brother, my sons’ uncle, and Elizabeth's husband. I will miss you dearly and will always be proud to remember you as my brother. Rest Easy.
Nick Ford remembers: The first is the fact that he had a cat called Bagel. Next is when he went to the memorial service for Douglas Adams, the author of Hitchhikers Guide, Dave used to wear a long black coat, and because of his height, not one but two people tapped him on the shoulder from behind as they thought he was Robbie Coltrane the actor! Dave always used to tease me about black and white films, as before we shared a flat, I had hardly seen any. We got into a routine of him producing a different black and white film every week that we would watch together, and he taught me to appreciate them.
Glenn, Dave’s nephew, remembers: I had never been to the cinema, and he took me to see the Flintstones. I swear it was like two bus journeys, and he made sure I had all the sweets and popcorn! I will never forget it.
Liz Towse remembers: I have spent ages thinking about my David. Memories, there are so many from our very early days. I can remember David getting his first video player. He was so excited and had the film “National Lampoon’s Animal House” which we watched over and over. It's a wonder it never broke the tape ... Also his great love of the Rocky Horror Show. He was very involved in production in an am-dram way. He used to practice downstairs, and we could hear him and his mates laughing. He took George and Richard out trick-or- treating when it first started being popular, and Jilly and I had decorated the stairs in the flats for their return with apple bobbing and bat blood soup (tomato). Really, it was just family—David, his mum Nelly, and I watching tv on a Thursday evening, usually Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, and David’s brother Richard trying to show off. Happy times.
Thomas Latham remembers: I first met Dave at an improvisational acting session run by the Green Pavement Theatre Company in Croydon. He made a big impression in our first scene together on that first evening, and I remember him thanking me afterwards for believing in what he was trying to do. From there our friendship grew and was cemented after a group outing to see the film “Cyrano De Bergerac”. I remember walking home with him, chatting all the way until I had to confess that we had walked a mile past my turning. Dave was always easy to talk to and very generous with his time. We could always talk about a wide range of subjects, but always the conversations were filled with laughter. We wrote and performed in comedy shows together and I was forever in awe of his great ideas and how he could dissect and pull apart something to understand why it was funny and how to make it funnier. Dave and I had so many things in common – Doctor Who, comic books, comedy – but he was the kind of person who always respected your differences and showed that he appreciated them. He was also the kind of person who always stood by you and inspired loyalty in return. He was a great source of love, support, friendship and inspiration to me over the years and I will miss him incredibly every day.
What’s your fondest memory of David?
What’s a lesson you learned from David?
Share a story where David's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with David you’ll never forget.
How did David make you smile?