Dr. Dean F. Keeley (Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 26th Regiment, Fifth Marine Division) age 83, passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at his residence in Lafayette, La.

Interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA and full military rites will be conducted by the United States Marine Corps.

A native of Chicago and a resident of Lafayette since 1958, Dr. Dean Keeley proudly served our country as a member of the United States Marine Corps. At the age of 18, during World War II, he was a Marine private first class when U.S. troops invaded Iwo Jima. On March 3, 1945, a hand grenade was thrown into a foxhole where Dr. Keeley and two other Marines were situated. He put himself over the hand grenade and protected his fellow Marines. He spent two years recovering from his wounds in Naval hospitals and was honorably discharged as a 100% disabled veteran. He then earned his GED. He later graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Illinois with a Degree in Chemistry and went on to receive his Doctorate in Chemistry from Florida State University in 1957. That same year he began teaching at UL-Lafayette (formerly SLI and USL).

In 1995, Dr. Keeley participated in the 50th Anniversary Ceremonies at the National Cathedral and the Marine Corps Memorial to honor the 50,000 soldiers and Marines involved in the attack on Iwo Jima. During that year, he was also honored with USL's (now ULL) Distinguished Professor Award. In his career, Dr. Keeley published nineteen technical papers, presented nearly twenty meeting papers and received $3 million in external funding for research. One of his main research projects was a twelve year research collaboration for the U.S. Department of Energy on geopressured- geothermal energy. He spent much of his time in the Acadiana Research Laboratory, where he worked with physicists on a particle-accelerato r project or at ULL's Hamilton Hall developing a computer-based stereoscopic instruction and research facility that would enable students to see 3-D representations that illustrate complex concepts.

Dr. Keeley was a member of the American Chemical Society, the Sigma Xi Fraternity, the United States Marine Corps League; 5th Marine Division WWII Association Fox Company and St. Mary Catholic Church, where he served as an usher.

Dr. Keeley's teachings and research will be utilized and remembered by all of his students and colleagues. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

We loose several WWll Vets Daily.

They are some of the Finest Americans, that ever lived...

We are diminished by the loss of Dr. Keeley, and the other WWll heroes as well...

Semper Fi my Brother.