Keith Hayashi  November 6, 1951 - June 20, 2022

Keith Kei Hayashi was born in Tokyo, Japan on November 6, 1951 and passed away on June 20, 2022.  This obituary was difficult to write because Keibo, as we called him, did not have the traditional list of accomplishments and accolades.  Because of this, this obituary is a different way of telling his story.  After Keith passed away, his long-time friend asked if I would be interested in seeing stories shared by his friends. I said yes because I assumed his friends would know him a different way than I would know him as his sister.  What I learned is that the person we all knew was his true self.  Many friends shared Keith’s delight in putting people in situations just to see their reaction.  In his youth, Keith was an excellent skier and one person remembered Keith taking them to the top of a black diamond run with tons of moguls.  As others passed, and this person made his way down, Keith stopped at the end of each run, smiling, and encouraging by saying ”1/3 of the way done, “2/3 of the way done”, then “hey you made it.” Similarly, one of my favorite ski stories is that Keibo took me as a newer skier to the top of Snowbird to see if I could make it down. Even though it was painstakingly slow, he never abandoned me.  Another friend reflected on Keith’s love of movies and his ‘worthiness’ test of whether someone liked Stanley Kubrick’s, ”A Clockwork Orange.” I was also given (and passed!) the same litmus test. I remember seeing his grades once, showing that he had straight “A’s” in college including in Quantum Physics. All of the stories reinforced that Keibo was exceptionally smart, talented, had a sarcastic sense of humor, but above all he was kind (as long as you were deemed ‘worthy’).  He  was always there to help someone with whatever might have been going on:  fixing a vehicle, sprinklers, a computer, even catching raccoons in Mrs. H’s attic. Most of all he was my big brother, who was always there to help and support me in his own way.  For those of us who were close to him I think we’ll never understand why he didn’t do more with all of his talents – it’s a question that we’ll forever wonder.

Keibo’s Buddhist name is “Shaku Chie” which means ‘cleverness’ and reflects the essence of my brother, whether it was building some contraption, setting up some configuration of a ginormous sound system or challenging us to be better.  Keibo leaves behind his four cats: Bonkers, Adrian, Pooky, and Oliver.  He is also survived by his brother, Herb (Kristen) Hayashi, and sister, Sherrie Hayashi (Mark Masters), and nieces and nephews:  Stuart, Seiji, Ellen, and Miye.  He was preceded in death by his parents, (Jodo-Shinshu Buddhist Minister) Rev. Masami and Ritsuko Hayashi.

Many thanks to Gary Verchick EHS'71 for providing this obituary link and the recent photo..

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Keith was a good friend.  In junior high and high school I spent a lot of time in his basement apartment, listening to music and appreciating good audio gear, working on electronics in his kitchen.  He was highly intelligent and just spending time with him made me a smarter person.  We practiced trumpet together, he was a lot better at it than I was.  We shot BB guns at each other.  He often chuckled at other people's self inflicted shortcomings (read: idiots are entertaining) and had a self admitted sick sense of humor.  He was mischievous but never mean spirited.  Good skier, loved animals.  The fact that he designed a portable dialysis machine gives you a glimpse of his capabilities.  I will miss being able to share music videos and hear about the latest deal he got on a pair of speakers or amplifier.   Miss you my friend.  -- Gary Verchick, EHS'71