Goodbye my friend

[KI FANATIC 37]

My prayers go to the family. As a son who looks up to his dad(like every other child), I can not image the feeling they are going through. Something no child should ever have to see.

Praying for you all.

[spitfire]

While I didn't know Keith, it is truly heart-breaking to read such terrible news. My sympathies to his family and friends, both on and off the board, in this difficult time.

[Dill]

Prayers to the family. I know what it feels like to lose someone to such an unfair disease, one of my friends just passed away three days ago after a battling cancer throughout high school. He was only 17 and I can tell you, people with cancer are stronger than anything else on this earth. Their courage is unreal. I can only hope that one day cancer is just a zodiac sign...

[Beast79]

Shell shocked, Keith - KIfan1980 always had a smile on his face, very intellegent I'll never forget him standing up and speaking out at Mason's city council against Mason's tax on Kings Island. Praying for his family, wife and two boys...

[TheBEASTunchained]

Sounds like a really nice, kind, generous man. Its sad that he's gone so soon. God bless his family and friends.

[rotag]

as everyone has stated before i, he was one heck of a great gentlemen; he always knew how to be fun. the first time i recall meeting him was on my first visit to strickers grove in 09' (which also happened to be the same day i broke my wrist from walking backwards (ive since gotten better @ the backwards walking thing)). i recall the first time i rode with him there on the tilt-a-whirl (he always told me that was his best t-a-w experiance). he shall be greatly missed by many.

[shark6495]

Only knew him from his posts here on the board. Sad Ill never ride diamond back and see him on it. He brought many things to this board and made us better, just like he did in the real world RIP

[jasonondropzone]

I may not have many words, but I know what it's like to lose a friend to Cancer, or to lose a friend at all, it's so hard.

R.I.P. Keith, every ride from now on, will be for you!

[IndyGuy4KI]

Extremely sad to hear this news.

Keith was such a great guy, both in the coaster community and when you got to know him on a more personal level.

One of my favorite times with Keith was opening day last year when a group of KIC'ers, Keith and I were walking in the park trying to decide what to ride. We ended up in line for the Crypt when it broke down. We decided to stay in line because the A/C was great. We "tried" to figure out who's fault it was, somehow it got to be Keith's fault. After riding that, we ended up checking out a couple other rides. We finally decided to ride Racer (blue side). An almost full train of KIC members headed up the hill and got stuck 3/4ths of the way up. Who's fault was it? Everyone yelled to Keith, "way to break the ride Keith." He just laughed about it the entire day because it was just his luck that he was with some friends and things kept going down.

I look back on that day and it has become one of the most cherished Kings Island visits for me. Keith will truly rest in peace and I'm sure he'll watch over all of us on our crazy coaster trips and throughout our lives. God Bless Keith and his family. RIP buddy!

That was a fun day with Keith. I also remember standing outside in the parking lot of KI last season after the park closed talking with Keith, Ryan (BoddaH1994) and a few others discussing the coming Soak City. Keith was one of those guys that enjoyed people and made friends with everyone. After meeting him and hanging with him for a few hours you would have thought you had been buddies for years. I got to say, I always enjoyed hearing his accent as well.

Avatar, IBEW_Sparky, and I visited Keith before the GOCC holdiay party last December at his home. We were so hopeful that he would be able to beat the cancer. I am sure Avatar and Sparky will agree that we are so glad that we took the extra hour of our trip that day to stop and see him. He was a true friend to not only us, but everyone on KIC, even if you had never meet him and just read his posts.

He made it to the park this year as well. Maybe not as a rider, but he came and took pictures of the KIC group at the Coasting for Kids event this year. KingsIslandPR (Don) even walked him back to get some pics of us ridding in areas that only the media can go. We appreciate the park extending that to privilege to Keith.

I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of such a great friend, father, and loyal KIC'er. He was such an asset to this community. May he be in peace, cancer free, and enjoying that Kings Island in the sky.

A few pics he took from this years Coasting for Kids!

[XGatorHead 8904]

I was so sad to hear about Keith's passing. It was an honor to know him. This just shows how fragile life is.

I cherish the times that I spent with him. We first met in line for Diamondback, I was wearing my KIC shirt with my user name on the back. He was in the next row over and introduced himself to me. It was a few months later until we met again at the Gravity Group tour & bowling afterwards.

You could tell he was a caring father, who loved being with his sons. He was so proud of them, and it was so fun to spend time with them at the park. We would often talk about our kids' first times on rides, and how we couldn't wait until they were tall enough to hit the next height requirement, their first rides on Beast, and so on.

I was one of those in that group that MF2000CMH spoke about above on opening day last year. I don't know how we decided it was Keith's fault that the rides kept going down. I think it was because until we met up with him, everything had been running smoothly, but then after we met up the rides started going down. It became a running joke all year, and he took it in stride.

When I first heard of his cancer diagnosis, I thought "he'll make it." After all, my sister had made it through hers and I knew Keith would have the right attitude to help him through.

I had a goal during Coasting for Kids, and that was to get over 100 laps on Racer. But when I saw Keith there, I just had to get off and spend some time with him. It had been too long since I had seen him, and I wanted to see how he was doing. It was difficult to understand what he was saying at times, but he still kept his sense of humor. When he was discussing how he couldn't eat and on a feeding tube that bypassed his mouth and throat, Avatar asked, "So what's your favorite flavor?" We all laughed, including Keith. I didn't make my 100 lap goal, but I said even then that it was so worth it just to talk to him again after so long. And sadly, that was the last time I saw him and talked to him in person, outside of KIC and Facebook.

It was so good to see him continuing to post on here, and on Facebook, and keeping up on his KIC fantasy NASCAR team. I assumed things were getting better for him, so it was a shock when I got the text from rotag yesterday telling me that he had passed away. I feel for his wife and kids, losing their husband and dad at such a young age. We were close to the same age, and had gone to neighboring high schools around the same time, but it took this site to introduce us. Cherish your time with friends and family, they may be gone too soon.

[marlfox_21]

Very sad. My prayers go out to him and to his family and friends. This is the 2nd time that I have seen this today, as I received an email advising that One of my supervisors lost their husband to cancer this morning. I also found out that my wife's sister has breast cancer this past week. This along with my previous friend fighting this terrible disease makes me wonder what's spilling into the air.

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

The one and only time I ever met Keith, I was working at Magic Kingdom. It was a slow, rainy night. I had messaged him on KIC telling him to look for me. Sure enough as I walk near Pirates of the Caribbean, I hear my name being called. It was Keith and his sons. I stopped and talked to him in the pouring rain. It wasn't a long Convo, since it rained and he was en route to his wife.

I believe that was his final trip to Disney.

It was one of my more memorable Disney moments. I always hoped to bump into him at KI. He was a great friend and great farther. A wonderful human being. He will be missed greatly.

[jdawg1998]

Like many others on here, I only knew him through his posts, but he seemed like a really cool guy. It's just really sad to see that he was online just Saturday.

[Beast Man]

I am very saddened to hear of Keith's passing.He was always a pleasant man with a smile on his face.When I think of him the first thing that comes to mind is standing in line for DB.He was there frequently and for ert.I also remember the unusual way he would squat down when bowling.He would release the ball and then immediately squat down and watch the ball hit the pins.I was on The Racer train last year when it stopped on the lift and everyone started saying,"Keith!You broke the ride!"He was very devoted to his two boys.I remember the last time I saw him in June outside DB's entrance.He had lost a lot of weight and his voice was a whisper.His sons were with him.Even in not the best of health he still wanted his boys to spend time with their dad at KI.I had heard that he likely didn't have too much longer.I didn't want to believe it.Farewell Keith.The next time any of us are at KI take an extra lap on DB for Keith.

[StalkerChick]

Gator that's exactly what happened. Once Keith showed up everything kept going down. But the great KIC Racer evac was pretty epic, especially since another KICer had the key to let us out but he went along with it and laughed harder than all of us. Thats just how he was. He was a great inspiration to all of us and you could tell he loved his family.

If anyone else is interested, we've set up a collection on PayPal if anyone wants to donate for a flower arrangement/memorial for the family. If you're interested and have a PayPal account, feel free to send a donation to rcgiere@gmail.com and all proceeds will go towards a KIC arrangement with left overs going to the family.

[beastrider97]

Gave the little I could. Thanks for setting this up StalkerChick, glad I can help the family through the fund.

[CoastersRZ]

I am deeply saddened to hear this news.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

I too remember getting stuck on the Blue Racer, or him asking me on here about things related to Coney. I remember him at that bowling party. He always had so much enthusiasm for Kings Island and amusement parks.

He was a great guy and always seemed to have fun bringing his kids to the park to share in his enjoyment of the place. Its unfortunate, how early his life ended. I`m sure he`s up there in that big amusement park in the sky looking down on us.

Rest in peace Keith. You will certainly be missed by the KICentral community.

Robbie

[pkiboy]

Service for Keith Harrison:

Friday Sept. 7th, 2012

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

Montgomery, OH

Visitation 10 AM -Noon

Memorial Service Noon

Reception following service

[AgentSoB]

It was a pleasure to have met him and converse with him... He always seemed to have a smile on his face. Glad to see he got to see his boys ride some of his favorites. As good as a man he was... He did not deserve to suffer. RIP Keith

[McSalsa]

Wow...such shocking and sad news to learn. I didn't know the man, but like so many others, I had seen his posts here on KIC. I do know what it's like to lose a father to Cancer (that's how my dad died back in 2006), so I give my best wishes to his friends and family through what are sure to be tough times...

[UnrealNightmare]

Such sad news. Having been a member on this site for so long I remember reading most of Keiths trip reports and everytime I'd read one I felt like I knew him a little more. His trip reports were so well done I actually felt like he wanted us to relive every part of his trips along with him. Each one of his trip reports would bring a smile to my face in one way or another. I am truelly saddened that I was only ever able to meet him just one time. Like others have said before he was a great asset to this community and he will be missed by many. R.I.P

[stashua123]

He was a great contributer to KIC. R.I.P KIfan1980.

I am shocked he just posted like a week or two ago. I guess cancer can recupirate very quickly.

[Browntggrr]

I am shocked he just posted like a week or two ago. I guess cancer can recupirate very quickly.

*recuperate?

The disease may have taken his life, it did not dictate his life.

[stashua123]

i ment to say that it proably got worse very quick. one of my friends lost her dad so i know how it feels

[Snowman]

Read about Keith's passing yesterday. I only knew him through his posts, smiles, and waves during ERT. Heartbreaking loss of someone I never met but got to know through funny and deep thoughts and well placed words. Yesterday's rain just made Stevie Ray's song "The Sky Is Crying" more powerful thinking about his family's loss. I hope his kids keep a warm spot in their hearts for KI and remember their good times with Dad.

Good Journey Keith.

[Original]

I have never known the man but he seems like a nice gentelman. Sounds like he was a great part of the KIC family. I know wat its like to have a passing. 3 of my grandparents have passed and 1 is still going on stroing. She has had cancer not once, not twice, not even three times but 7. Yeah thats right 7, and still going on strong. Good bye fellow family member of Kings Island Cenrtal.

[SonofBaconator]

God bless him and his family.

[jandyb79]

I hate hearing news like this my prayers go out to His family!

[DaveStroem]

[TheCrypt]

A simple like cannot express the gratitude for putting this together, Dave. He looked so happy, jolly, and carefree in each photo, even when he was diagnosed. Thank you so much for putting this together.

While we may mourn the loss (and that is quite alright!), also be glad each and every one of you got the chance to know him, whether it be through his posts or personally. He obviously touched many lives in such a positive way.

As an astronomy teacher once said, "The biggest and brightest stars die the fastest."