Ernest Keller

Ernie was born on Nov. 15, 1942, in Seattle, Wash., and grew up the youngest of three kids. At 11, Ernie joined the Boy Scouts. As the leader of the Silver Fox Patrol, Troop 128, he met his best friend, Dr. Jimmie Joki. Together they hiked and camped in the Cascades Mountains every weekend. Ernie cut his teaching chops at Camp Parsons Scout Camp on Hood Canal, educating his fellow scouts about the environment, and rose in the ranks to achieve Eagle Scout. He supported the Boy Scouts his entire life, volunteering with Jimi at Camp Parsons for 15 years. He loved Scout Camp and relished in preparing a fun week for northwest Boy Scouts. 

Education and Career

Ernie graduated from Ballard High School in 1961 and spent two summers up in Alaska as the warehouse foreman of a fishing cannery. He received his BA in Industrial Arts from Western Washington University in 1966. After graduating, Ernie served in the United States Army. He spent a year at Fort Ord in California, teaching advanced infantry tactics as an acting “buck” sergeant, and was discharged in 1968. He started teaching at Seattle Public Schools in 1967, rising to department chair in 1971. 

Ernie believed that vocational education was essential to a healthy society. Throughout his life, he worked a variety of manual jobs that drove his passion for technical training. In addition to the Alaska fishing cannery, Ernie worked as a cabinet maker, newspaper boy, cook’s assistant, and storekeeper. In 1970, Ernie started his Masters in vocational leadership at Oregon State University. The program trained teachers to become school administrators in vocational programs. Ernie went to school in the summer and taught classes during the school year.

In 1972, Ernie and Gloria moved down to Hillsboro, Ore., where Ernie taught at OSU and interned with Oregon State’s Career Education Exemplary Program. In 1974, he became regional coordinator for career and vocational education in the Washington County Educational Service District (ESD).

As the coordinator for vocational education, Ernie worked with students, teachers, administration, and industry to develop programs and provide career pathways for high school students. While working full-time for the Washington County ESD, Ernie started a doctoral program in education (EdD) at OSU. Ultimately, his doctoral studies led him to Brigham Young University, where he attained his Doctorate of Education in 1989.

In 1977, Ernie and Gloria moved with their first child, Winter, to The Dalles, Ore., where Ernie became the regional coordinator for career and vocational education for Wasco County ESD. His second son, West, was born in 1979. Over the next 20 years, Ernie worked as the district’s media director, curriculum director, migrant director, safety officer, and technology director. By 1998, Ernie had become the Wasco County Director of Professional and Technical Education and served as Interim Superintendent of three county school districts. Of note was Ernie’s role as Chairman of the County Planning Commission during the Rajneesh era, working through such preposterous situations as arson and mass poisoning. He retired in 2001.

Advocacy work

Ernie spent his “retirement” supporting vocational education and community colleges at the local, state, and federal levels. A year after he retired, he was elected to the board of the Columbia Gorge Community College, where he served with unbridled dedication for the next 17 years.

Ernie was instrumental in building the school into the vibrant institution it is today. Among other achievements, he lobbied for funding to build the Health Sciences Building and the Hood River campus in 2008. That same year, Ernie was president of the Oregon Community College Association.

In 2010 he was appointed to the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), a national nonprofit that represents more than 1,200 community, technical, and junior colleges across the country. He held many roles on the ACCT and was a familiar face in the state capitol, where he was on a first-name basis with state representatives and governors for two decades. 

Ernie was beloved by the college’s students, staff, and faculty and attended every CGCC event he could — not just large events like graduations and groundbreaking, but also student presentations, fundraisers, and career workshops. 

Personal

In 1967, Ernie met his wife, Gloria Lindblad, at a party in Seattle. They married in 1969 and had two children, Winter Hans, in 1976, and West Ernst, in 1979. 

Ernie loved being outdoors and working with his hands. According to his sons, he could build anything. Among the items he built by himself were bunk beds, wooden swords, and a fully functioning car trailer. 

He bought and fixed up half a dozen homes in the Puget Sound area. At the time of his death he owned and managed four rental properties in Everett, Snohomish, and Seattle. He fixed almost everything at his properties, his own home, and his son’s home. Not only did he know how to fix a house, he could do it to code and make it look good.  

Ernie loved cars and was the proud owner of a lovingly restored 1964 Chevrolet Impala SS convertible. As a member of the Dalles Auto Club, he helped organize the annual Cruise the Gorge event, which draws hundreds of classic car enthusiasts from around the state. 

Almost everything Ernie did, he did with dedication. He loved tennis and was known around The Dalles for a legendary lob. He loved animals and had many pets throughout his life; in the last few years he adopted a dozen stray cats. 

Ernie was a lifelong member of the Kiwanis Club, serving terms as both President and Lt. Governor. At both the CGCC and the Kiwanis Club, Ernie was famous for his ability to sell raffle tickets. He was also a board member for the Mid-Columbia Child and Family Center, an agency providing service for children with emotional disabilities.

Ernie was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He and Gloria visited Winter’s family in Germany often, sometimes taking two trips a year and video chatting with his granddaughter Vienna in between visits. He spent many weekends in Seattle and was present at the hospital the day each of West’s children were born. 

Service and Donations

Ernie is preceded in death by his father, William Keller, his mother, Anna Orth, and his brother William Keller. He leaves behind his wife, Gloria Keller (Lindbladt), his sister Alice Eilers and her husband Gary, his son Winter and daughter-in-law Alexandra Carl, his son West and daughter-in-law Elizabeth Hunter, and three grandchildren, Vienna, Cora, and Henry. 

A service is planned for a later date. If you would like to attend this service, please email West Keller at west@kexp.org or Liz Hunter at Elizabeth.leigh.hunter@gmail.com. 

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Ernie’s honor to the Columbia Gorge Community College or to the Boy Scouts of America.