From East Asian Seas to Denver’s City Streets

By Benjamin A. Lindley

A P4Y-2G Coast Guard Air Detachment used for Search & Rescue in the Pacific during the Korean War, United States Coast Guard Aviation History.

John Keller in Denver Fire Department uniform, Ancestry, courtesy of Ms. Carol Olson and Ms. Lynn Marie Keller.

John in his Coast Guard uniform with his wife, Shirley, Ancestry, courtesy of Carol Olson.

Denver City Park, Station 15, circa 1960s-1970s, “Station 15 Historical Photos,” Courtesy of Duane Troxel Photo.

John with his children, Karen and Michael, in Kentucky, circa 1957-1958, Ancestry, courtesy of Lynn Marie Keller.

John D. Keller

January 18, 1935 - January 13, 1968

John Donald Keller was born on January 18, 1935, in Denver, Colorado, to Evelyn Donna DeLuca and Lewis Henry Keller.[1] John (affectionately named “Donnie” by his family)[2] grew up with his parents and older sisters, Betty and Josephine,[3] on Mariposa Street right across from the La Alma-Lincoln Park neighborhood near downtown Denver. John attended West High School, where he would eventually meet his wife, Shirley Corely.[4] Although it is not exactly clear when John and Shirley got married, it is likely that the two got married near the end of high school in 1953. Immediately upon graduation in 1953, John enlisted in the US Coast Guard to fight in the Korean War. His immediate enlistment in the Coast Guard after graduation in 1953 may have been hastened by the fact that the Korean War appeared to be near its end by as early as December of 1952 with Dwight D. Eisenhower’s election. Eisenhower’s campaign pledge in 1952 to end the static nature of the war in Korea,[5] the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in March of 1953, and the increasing public resentment toward the unchanging outcome of the war[6] all pointed toward the war ending sooner rather than later. This writing on the wall may have influenced John to enlist as soon as possible so as not to miss helping others as a soldier in the historically significant conflict.

Although John wasn’t on active duty until later into the war, he still likely held wartime responsibilities into the later months of 1953, even after the July 27 armistice. To this day, the role of the US Coast Guard in the US military is poorly understood by a majority of Americans. This is somewhat understandable, as the Coast Guard has a broad array of duties it carries out, some of which parallel with US Navy operations, and some of which differ between wartime and peacetime. The main purpose of the Coast Guard is to secure American trade ports, prevent international smuggling, enforce federal law in US waters, commence search & rescue operations, and fight alongside the US Navy in wartime.[7]

During the Korean War, the Coast Guard had an auxiliary combat role when compared to the US Navy during maritime campaigns. One of the most widespread roles of Coast Guard Seamen was to “prevent sabotage and ensure the timely loading and sailing of merchant ships, especially those sailing to Japan and Korea to deliver ammunition needed by the United Nations forces.”[8] Additionally, ensuring the security of US ports was a pertinent duty in the Coast Guard, as one of the biggest fears during the Korean War was a nuclear warhead being detonated on US soil. Since long-range ballistic missiles were not invented until years after the war, “delivery of a bomb by vessel sailing into an unsuspecting port and then being detonated was the most likely form of nuclear attack on the United States.”[9] Port security fell under the responsibility of the US Coast Guard during the war, and John would have most likely carried out some form of port security either in Korea or stateside.

After returning home from the war in 1954, John and Shirley continued their life together as a married couple in Kentucky. Until 1958, John was stationed in Kentucky while still under active Coast Guard duty.[10] In late 1958, John, Shirley, and their two children, Karen and Michael, would move back to Denver.[11] John and Shirley would end up having five children together within the span of a decade or so, starting in 1954. Their children by birth order were Karen, Michael, Daniel, Patrick and Robert.[12]

Aside from being a newfound family man upon his return from war, John would find himself being a newfound firefighter as well. John was a firefighter with the Denver Fire Department where he worked under the Station 15 crew.[13] Station 15 served the City Park neighborhood, located in the heart of Denver.[14] Pictured below is a historical photo of Station 15 around the time of John’s service in the department. Denver in the 1960s was characterized by rapid growth and development, albeit mostly in the suburban periphery surrounding Denver.[15] Additionally, urban renewal efforts like the demolition of historic buildings and displacing downtown residents for new housing created tension between citizens and the local government.[16] For Denver firefighters, the growing population of the metro area and rapid infrastructure developments led to challenges in maintaining existing firefighting systems. The decade was characterized by large fires that damaged the core building integrity of high-rises, inadequate firefighting resources for emergencies at Stapleton Airport, widespread smoke inhalation among firefighters, and an arson ring later in the decade that plagued much of the city’s new construction developments.[17]

In addition to the chaotic environment of firefighting in Denver during the 1960s, the time during John’s service was even more dangerous, as job safety and protection for firefighters were far less developed than today. Firefighters back then would have had relatively basic PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) without much respiratory protection, less advanced job training, and a less advanced understanding of fire chemistry and dynamics.[18] Smoke inhalation, chemical poisoning, and general fire danger made firefighting in the middle of the twentieth century perilous to say the least. Even today, firefighters have a life expectancy that is a decade shorter compared to the average person. This can be attributed to the consistent chemical and smoke exposure over a career period.[19] Seventy years ago, the life expectancy of firefighters would have been even worse than today’s standards. These were the conditions that John Keller worked in during his time as a Denver firefighter.

After nearly eight years as a career firefighter for DFD, John and the Station 15 crew were called to a medical emergency in January of 1968.[20] The call was for an apparent unconscious suicide victim in the City Park neighborhood. After arriving on scene, John began performing CPR on the unconscious suicide victim with no hesitation.[21] Unbeknownst to John and fellow first responders, the victim ingested a hydrogen cyanide capsule likely produced for rural coyote control. Hydrogen cyanide in most forms, including capsule form, is a colorless, odorless, liquid which can be absorbed through skin contact, inhalation, and the thin membrane in your mouth and gums.[22] Hydrogen cyanide exposure results in a rapidly fatal reaction with the human body, hence its use as a chemical warfare agent.[23] During his attempts at resuscitation, John accidentally ingested a lethal amount of hydrogen cyanide in the process. John would succumb to the fatal exposure days later on January 13, 1968.[24]

For John Keller, a hazardous exposure to a rapidly toxic agent combined with the inadequacies of medical emergency procedure at the time led to his early death. While uncovering different articles, reports, and journals surrounding his death, conflicting reports muddy the overall story of John’s last few months. According to some sources, John had been exposed to hydrogen cyanide on duty in the late fall of 1967 through inhalation, and again in January 1968 during his fateful medical emergency call. It is theorized that both exposures potentially led to his death. However, most other reports only reference the one exposure in January of 1968. Although it is unclear if John had truly been exposed to hazardous hydrogen cyanide more than once due to conflicting reports, the one main exposure certainly led to his death in January 1968.

John Keller left behind his wife, Shirley, and five young children, all under the age of 14 at the time of his death. As if the Keller family didn’t have enough grief following the death of John, the City and County of Denver would not approve on-duty death benefits to Shirley and the family.[2 5] After an on-duty accidental death, the surviving spouse receives a lump-sum payment, and each surviving dependent of the fallen firefighter receives compensation until age 18, or age 21 if a full-time student.[26] Additionally, a funeral allowance for the family, education benefits for dependents, and 70% of the fallen firefighter's monthly salary would be paid to the surviving spouse indefinitely.[27] The exact monetary figures of compensation for the Keller family would have been different in 1968 compared to present policies, but the surviving family would have truly benefitted, nonetheless. The City and County of Denver refused to classify John’s death as an on-duty death because he died in a hospital just days after his on-duty exposure and not in the field. However, John’s wife, Shirley, would not let the city deny her family the benefits they rightfully deserved, nor let the world ignore her husband’s service without a fight.

Shirley began to formulate a civil case against the City and County of Denver shortly after her family’s benefits were denied. Shirley swiftly took the case to court and won, allowing her and her five children to receive the benefits they very much needed and deserved.[28] After her successful court battle, Shirley would go on to help create the Colorado Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Belmar Park in Lakewood, CO.[29] Shirley also served on the board for the Colorado Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a foundation instrumental in the support of Colorado families who have lost firefighters in the line of duty.[3 0 ] The Colorado Fallen Firefighters Foundation still supports families today and helps raise funds in the pursuit of on-duty death prevention for all firefighters. Shirley passed away on Christmas Eve of 2016, leaving behind her five children, thirteen grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren.[31] Shirley never remarried after John’s death, and she continued to express how John was the love of her life until the day she died.[32]

John was a hero. Not in the generic sense, but in the truly compelling way that John wanted to help others until the very end. From his service in Korea, to the way he loved his family, to his final act of service, John Keller embodied the spirit of courage and compassion.

Footnotes ↓

[1] Olson, Carol, “You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Ancestors. John Donald Keller,” ancestry.com, accessed August 22, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/.

[2] Ibid.

[3] “1940 United States Federal Census for John D Keller,” Ancestry.com, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/m-t0627-00485-00720?pId=39621018.

[4] Olson, Carol, “You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Ancestors. John Donald Keller.”

[5] “Korean War,” Korean War | Eisenhower Presidential Library, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/korean-war#:~:text=Acting%20on%20a%20campaign%20pledge,communist%20rule%20on%20South%20Korea.

[6] Sidman, Andrew H., and Helmut Norpoth, “Stonybrook,” Stonybrook.edu, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/polisci/_professor_files/Norpoth/Norpoth_ElectoralStudies2012.pdf.

[7] “Sunday, August 4 Is the Coast Guard’s Birthday,” UMass Office of the President, August 2, 2024, https://www.umassp.edu/deia/events-and-news/all-news/sunday-august-4-coast-guards-birthday#:~:text=The%20Coast%20Guard%20was%20established,preventing%20smuggling%20with%20lifesaving%20missions.

[8] Price, Scott T., “USCG in Korean War,” media.defense.gov, accessed September 3, 2025, https://media.defense.gov/2018/Feb/08/2001875069/-1/-1/0/KOREANWAR-USCG&CHRONOLOGY.PDF.

[9] Ibid.

[10] “Public Member Trees,” Ancestry.com, accessed September 3, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/19425718/person/808686182/media/d7d2739a-a38a-473c-ac13-9fdc7185f62c?galleryindex=9&sort=-created

[11] Ibid.

[12] Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation, “Shirley M. Keller Obituary December 24, 2016,” Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation, June 20, 2023, https://www.horancares.com/obituaries/shirley-keller.

[13] “Denver Fire Memorial,” 5280Fire, December 29, 2023, https://5280fire.com/home/colorado-fire-apparatus-stations/denver-county/denver-fire-department/denver-fire-memorial/.

[14] “Denver Fire Department,” Firefighting Wiki, accessed September 3, 2025, https://fire.fandom.com/wiki/Denver_Fire_Department.

[15] “Denver’s Single-Family Homes by Decade: 1960s,” DenverUrbanism Blog, June 10, 2012, https://denverurbanism.com/2012/06/denvers-single-family-homes-by-decade-1960s.html.

[16] Calvo, Alfredo Luis, “The Hole in the Heart of the City,” Medium, April 20, 2018, https://medium.com/@alfredoluiscalvo/the-hole-in-the-heart-of-the-city-8231d163411f.

[17] Journal, Denver Fire, 1960-1969, accessed September 3, 2025, https://denverfirejournal.blogspot.com/2014/12/major-fires-1960-1969.html.

[18] Fire Engineering Staff, “The History of Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment,” Fire Engineering: Firefighter Training and Fire Service News, Rescue, August 30, 2024, https://www.fireengineering.com/firefighting-equipment/the-history-of-firefighter-personal-protective-equipment/.

[19] Sy, Stephanie, and Lena I. Jackson, “How Firefighters’ Life-Saving Work Puts Them at a Higher Risk of Cancer,” PBS, September 28, 2022, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-firefighters-life-saving-work-puts-them-at-a-higher-risk-of-cancer.

[20] Olson, Carol, “You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Ancestors. John Donald Keller.”

[21] Ibid.

[22] “Hydrogen Cyanide (AC): Systemic Agent,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 12, 2011, https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_29750038.html#:~:text=Ingestion%20of%20hydrogen%20cyanide%20(AC,concentration%20and%20duration%20of%20exposure.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Olson, Carol, “You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Ancestors. John Donald Keller.”

[25] Ibid.

[26] “Colorado Fallen Firefighter: Survivor Benefits,” National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, February 9, 2023, https://www.firehero.org/resources/family-resources/benefits/local/co/.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Olson, Carol, “You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Ancestors. John Donald Keller.”

[29] “Denver Fire Memorial,” 5280Fire, December 29, 2023, https://5280fire.com/home/colorado-fire-apparatus-stations/denver-county/denver-fire-department/denver-fire-memorial/.

[30] Ibid.

[31] Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation, “Shirley M. Keller Obituary December 24, 2016,” Horan & McConaty Funeral Service and Cremation, June 20, 2023, https://www.horancares.com/obituaries/shirley-keller.