Grey Keinsley was a robust, 6-foot-tall freshman in college, played football and worked part time at McDonald’s.
One night, he was driving from Greeley to Longmont when his car went out of control, and he began a life in a wheelchair. Family members believe he fell asleep.
Keinsley was 62 when he died of congestive heart failure Feb. 16 at Swedish Hospital.
After the accident, he permanently lost the use of his arms and legs but suffered no brain damage.
He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s in economic finance, both at the University of Colorado at Denver.
Until his retirement, he worked for Insurance Co. of North America, now part of Cig na, said his sister, Pam Reader of Quitman, Ark. He was an adjuster in major-case litigation.
With the dedication of his mother, the late Dorothy Keinsley, he was able to get to classes. She was up at 3:30 every morning to feed, bathe and dress her son and load him into a van along with his motorized wheelchair, operable with the touch of a finger, Reader said. Sometimes she took notes for him in class.
But he didn’t need that. He could remember six or eight words from a lecture and reconstruct it, Reader said.
She said her brother lived far longer than most quadriplegics “because of the excellent care.” One of his mother’s regular duties was to move her son’s legs and arms to kept them from “freezing up,” Reader said.
She called her brother an “unconquerable soul” who had a strong belief in God and a steady sense of humor.
“If you have God in one hand and humor in the other, you can make it,” Reader said.
She and her grandmother, the late Blanche Scholl, helped with Keinsley’s care, as did friends and neighbors near their Centennial home.
“He was a stellar kind of human being,” said Sue Long, a longtime neighbor.
Another neighbor, Marilee Saxe, said Grey Keinsley got his positive attitude from his mother.
“She was a feisty person,” Saxe said.
Dorothy Keinsley was able to unwind with neighbors who would offer single-malt Scotch.
Grey Keinsley had done well enough in his career to support himself and his mother and hired caretakers for her during her final illness.
When his own health started failing, he told his sister, “Pam, I’m done. I gave it the good fight.”
Grey Preston Keinsley was born in Monroe, Mich., on Sept. 14, 1944, and moved with his family as his father’s military duty dictated. He graduated from Littleton High School.
In addition to his sister, he is survived by a nephew and four great-nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother and by his father, Walter Keinsley, who left the family shortly after his son’s accident.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
