Mississippi State University’s fall break was darkened by the loss of a longtime professor.
Jay T. Keehley, 60, a philosophy and religion professor, died Nov. 29 from lung cancer.
(Dale) Lynn Holt, head of the philosophy and religion department, said Keehley came to MSU in 1971. Holt was also one of Keehley’s students in the late ’70s. He said Keehley was a unique person.
“He was always flamboyant. He was always a provocateur; he was always stirring up trouble,” Holt said with a laugh. “But he was always committed to his students, and his aim in stirring up trouble was to force them to think.”
Holt described Keehley as “an excellent teacher” and “a generous colleague.”
“He was loyal to a fault and always very giving with other members in the department, eccentric though he was,” Holt said.
Wallace Murphree, former head of the philosophy and religion department, worked very closely with Keehley. Murphree came to MSU in 1967, when the department was founded.
“For years, he and I were the only two philosophy people on campus,” Murphree said. “We worked together and spent a lot of our free time together. We played basketball and socialized.”
Murphree said he remembered Keehley’s confrontational teaching style.
“His approach was adversarial and confrontational,” Murphree said. “He loved it when people would rise to him and accept the challenge of disagreeing with him. Some people felt he was personally attacking his students, but he never did. He didn’t like that image, and he talked to me about it. He got an undeserved reputation.”
Murphree said Keehley often did some unusual things. He said when Keehley moved into an overgrown place, he mentioned to him that a goat would eat the grass down. Keehley took his statement to heart and bought a goat.
“One little goat was orphaned-a little Billy,” Murphree said. “And he got to bringing him to school to take care of him. At the time, I was finishing my dissertation for Vanderbilt, and I didn’t have it finished. He kept that goat in the office between us, and I was dreading what I was going to do if that goat got through and ate my dissertation. I only had one copy!”
Nate Young, a junior majoring in business, took philosophy under Keehley. “He was definitely unique,” Young said. “Everyone in the class loved being there because he was unusual and fun. It’s hard to describe him. He allowed you to keep an open mind on just about everything.”
Young said Keehley would give his students unusual nicknames and talk about unusual topics “from NASCAR and motorcycles to God.” Young also said Keehley made his class interesting and thought-provoking.
“You had to think in his class. He was very interactive. It wasn’t just taking notes, it was talking back and forth,” Young said.
Murphree said underneath his unusual and sometimes forceful exterior, Keehley was a very caring person.
“He was a very good, faithful friend. He cared very deeply about his students, and he cared about his goats and his dogs-even if his persona was such that at times it didn’t show through as well as it might have.”
Aside from teaching at MSU, Keehley practiced law in Starkville and served as attorney for the Oktibbeha County School Board. He received his law degree from the University of Mississippi and his doctorate degree from Florida State University.
Keehley is survived by his wife, Lisa Dawn Brister Keehley; two daughters, Courtney Coreene and Mollikate Keehley, all of Starkville; two sons, Maison Davis Keehley of Starkville and Thomas Holder of Cedar Bluff; one brother; three sisters and his mother.
He was preceded in death by his father, Leo James Keehley Jr.