Obituary of R. Keith Honaman

R. Keith Honaman passed away peacefully, on October 11, 2015, surrounded by family, after a courageous battle against cancer. He was 74. A lifelong resident of Northern New Jersey, he lived in both Cedar Grove and Glen Ridge. Keith had a long career as a fireman at the Glen Ridge Fire Department. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant and retired from the department in 1989. Keith taught first aid and was Chairman of the Training department for decades with the Montclair Chapter of the American Red Cross. He also taught first aid at William Patterson College. As part of his commitment to the community, he drove for the Cedar Grove ambulance squad for many years and in 1988 was the proud recipient of the Century Club with over 100 blood donations to the New Jersey Blood bank. A life long Boy Scout, he attained the rank of Eagle Scout and continued to serve the young men of Glen Ridge as the Scout Master of Explorer Post 2 for many years. Keith’s second career and true love was Colonial crafting. Living in a 300-year-old farmhouse, he constructed a period post and beam barn on the property to pursue his passion. Keith was a master woodworker along with many other skills and even crafted his own metal accessories and nails with a forge located on the first floor of the barn. As part of the Montclair and South Orange-Maplewood adult schools, he held classes in the barn and taught a variety of crafts such as chair caning and antique furniture restoration, all using the techniques of the colonial period. He began doing demonstrations of colonial crafts for the Montclair Historical Society at the Israel Crane House in the 70’s where he also served as President of the Society. Keith then took his skills on the road and donned colonial period costume to demonstrate colonial crafts throughout the Tristate area participating in shows, fairs and festivals with a group of demonstrators that he formed, called the 1776 Crafters. He could also be found at the Dey Mansion teaching elementary school groups, colonial crafts. Keith often visited Colonial Williamsburg where he had many friends and was called upon to participate in special activities. Every fall for more than 20 years, Keith dedicated his time to volunteer as an assistant to the Coaches of the Cedar Grove Panthers Football team. His duties included a variety of activities making sure that the equipment was game ready and in top condition. To the team members, he was a role model that they followed not only in their High School years, but that they carried with them throughout their lives. Keith is survived by his Companion Laurel Petersen, his children, Sherri Turco (John), Heidi Maddaloni and Rich Honaman (Tammy) and his seven grandchildren; Heather, Michael, Steven, Kevin, Logan, Ryan and Garret. He is also survived by his siblings Craig Honaman (Dee Dee), Mary Ann Llewllyn (Dennis), Glenn Honaman (Lynn) and many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Keith’s name may be made to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (www.history.org/foundation/development/index.cfm)