Frederick “Fred” Herman Keller, a longtime reporter for the Sussex Sun, died Thursday, Jan. 12, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He was 91.
Born on Dec. 21, 1931, to Hilbert F. and Regina (Halbach) Keller in Burlington, he attended Marquette University High School and Marquette University for one year before transferring to the then-Carroll College. He volunteered for induction to the U.S. military in 1952 and after basic training he served in Germany as an MP.
He married June Krafczyk on June 4, 1955, and the couple had four children, Craig, Carol, Catherine and Curt.
The family moved to Sussex in 1959 where he became partial owner of Sussex Mills, a feed and farm supply business. He fell in love with Sussex, and he and June became a special part of it. During this time, Fred’s love of history and sports went hand in hand for the rest of his life.
Coined as “Mr. Sussex” and known as the local historian, it would be a safe to say that nearly every person, who lived in Sussex knew Fred Keller, the Journal Sentinel‘s Cathy Kozlowicz wrote. If they did not know him personally, they knew of him.
Keller worked as a reporter for the Sussex Sun — now Northwest Now — for nearly 40 years. While at the newspaper, he covered city news and sporting events.
Writing was just something Keller always did, his family told Kozlowicz. When he was in the service, he wrote an account of his journey and experiences each day as well as to his wife as they were dating when he served in Germany and France.
He also authored multiple books, including several on the history of Sussex and one on the history of the Sussex Fire Department, as well as information for the Sussex-Lisbon Area Historium’s website.
Visitation will be Saturday, Jan. 28, at Sussex Funeral Home, W250-N6505 Highway 164, from 9:30 a.m. until the the memorial service at noon.
