J.J. Keller & Associates' Namesake Mourned
John J. "Jack' Keller, 88, died in his sleep June 13 at his Wisconsin home, the company announced. He is the namesake, founder, and chairman emeritus of J.J. Keller & Associates Inc. of Neenah, Wis.
Keller founded the company in 1953 with his wife, Ethel. It grew to its current size -- nearly 1,200 employees, offering more than 6,000 products, with more than 300,000 customers -- since then.
Jack Keller also founded the Keller Foundation Ltd. (now the J.J. Keller Foundation Inc.) in 1991 in honor of his wife's 70th birthday, the company said. Two of their sons, Robert and James, are chairman and CEO, and president and COO, respectively. The funeral was held June 19 in Appleton, Wis. Ethel Keller died in December 2004. Jack Keller worked for Kimberly-Clark Corp. from 1939 to 1950 in traffic management before founding his own company, according to the company's news releases.