A Life Well Lived

A Tribute to Arden Keller,

The Founder of Indian Valley Camping Center

Arden Keller recently passed away.  Since I have worked at Indian Valley Camping Center less than 10 years, I didn’t have the opportunity to work with him on a regular basis, as he had retired from the daily operations of the company several years before I came on board.  I did get to know Arden from his visits to the store, especially in the early years of my employment when he came to the store more frequently, and at some social meetings, but most of what I know about him, I learned from coworkers, his family members and the things I heard at his Funeral Service.  I learned many new things about him from the sharing at the funeral.  I would have believed this was who he was, just based on what I knew of him and his family, but to hear it confirmed from so many sources was very inspiring.  He was a man who truly had his life prioritized.  The order of priority may surprise many of you, since you only related to him as a business man, but business was at least 3rd on his priority list, and perhaps lower.  What I can say from what I've heard and seen, his priorities were;

1. His faith and belief in Jesus Christ.  He demonstrated this with consistent and long term dedication to the Lord's service in his working at the church, both as a Sunday School teacher and as an elder and Church Council member.  But he was not a "Sunday only" sort of believer, but acted out the principles of his faith on a daily basis, at his business and in his community.  Through his caring for his employees, he started a retirement plan that he worked as hard at developing as if it was his own money.  Practically unheard of in that time, especially in a small family business.  He obviously built the company on sound, honest and fair practices or we would not be here over 50 years later.

2. His family and first and foremost of course, his beloved wife Shirley.  Seldom have I witnessed a family that shows as much love and respect for one another, across the board, than the Kellers do.  That is something you can't teach in a book, it only comes through years of consistent example.  Arden and Shirley are to be commended for their strong commitment to each other and their children.

3. His business. Arden was already a success in the business world, and you might think his motivation for becoming an entrepreneur was simply to make more money, but even that decision was based on deeper values.  When Arden was looking to buy a camper to go camping with his family, he decided that it might be a good idea to buy 3 campers and then sell 2 to help pay for the one he wanted to buy, and Indian Valley Camping Center was born!

I want to thank all of you for joining me in sharing these memories of a man who lived a simple, ordinary life, and yet influenced so many.  My hope is that his life will continue to inspire people to stay true to their family, true to their convictions and most importantly true to their faith.

For any of you who would like to offer a remembrance of Arden, please leave a comment here on the blog, or on Facebook.  The family greatly appreciates all the love and support the community has poured out on their family and they look forward to serving you with the same dedication and integrity that Arden did for the next fifty years!