Terry “Cowboy” A. Keenan, 73, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Andover, Connecticut, of natural causes on Friday, May 27, 2016. He leaves the love of his life, his adoring wife, Diana (Shelinsky) Keenan, with whom he would have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on October 11. He was born at the Madagan Hospital in Houlton, Maine on April 27, 1943 to the late Irene (Cronin) and Alvin Keenan. He spent his youth in his hometown of Woodstock and graduated from high school from St. Joseph’s in Memramcook. He attended UNB in Fredericton and then joined his family’s potato business. For the last 30 years he has operated a small wholesale produce business in Connecticut, where so many knew Terry as “potato man”. His love of horses, reading and all around “western style” made him the exceptional man he was. He leaves four children, Michael and his wife Laura McFagan of Ottawa, Martha and her husband Peter Greechan of Halifx, Jane and her husband Paul Devlin of Ottawa and Andrew and his wife Lesley of Toronto. He also leaves 11 grandchildren, Patrick, Amelia, Callum, Lachlan, Colin, Anna, Keegan, Ronan, Sarah, Ben and Sophie. He was predeceased by his brothers Philip and David and his sister Mary Catherine Johnston and his in-laws, Florence and Stanley Shelinsky, who treasured Terry like a “son” and who Terry treasured as his “Ma” and “Pa”. He is survived by two sisters Susan and her husband Paul St. Hilaire of Wolfeboro Falls, NH, and Dr. Grace Keenan of Paeonian Springs, Virginia and three brothers, Raymond Keenan and his wife Betsy, Alvin Keenan and his wife Nancy, both of Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada and Kenneth Keenan and his fiancé Debra of Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada. He also leaves 16 nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, many cousins and friends. As recently remembered by his youngest son, Andrew, Terry was admired for his constant thirst to learn and always passionate about sharing new information on topics he had recently gained new insights about including health, business, and general life lessons. His generous heart and kind spirit were as much as his trademark as his cowboy hat, boots and belt buckle! He will be missed. Relatives and friends may join the family on Thursday, June 2, 2016 from 4-7 pm at the Coventry-Pietras Funeral Home, 2665 Boston Tpke (Rt. 44), Coventry. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, June 3 at 10 am at St. Maurice Church, 32 Hebron Road, Bolton. Burial will follow at Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield. In lieu of flowers people may contribute to two charities that were dear to him. Terry’s strong Irish Catholic faith was evident in his devotion to the sweet nuns of Little Sisters of the Poor, Enfield, CT that he loved to help anyway he could. The other was his love of horses that he first started racing on Island Park in Woodstock when he was a teen and continued to keep involved with for the rest of his life. The Live and Let Live Farm, 20 Paradise Lane, Chichester, NH 03258 rescue horses from all over the U.S. For online condolences, please visit www.pietrasfuneralhome.com
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