State building to be named for Bernie native

A state office building in St. Louis soon will bear the name of a Bernie, Missouri, native, primarily because of the efforts of Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder.

The late Mike Keathley, a lifelong Stoddard County resident, was a husband, father of two sons, an Eagle Scout who worked within the Scouting arena all his life and an active member of the local community and beyond.

Keathley was 51 when he died of cancer in 2008.

He played a role in Missouri politics, serving from 2005 until his death as commissioner of the Missouri Office of Administration under then-Gov. Matt Blunt.

Keathley was credited with having taken politics out of the equation as he planned and executed Missouri’s budget, slashed expenditures and trimmed the fat off excess spending — especially pertaining to government lease properties.

Mike Keathley

A native of Bernie, Keathley later moved to Dexter, Missouri, where he continued his work with the Boy Scouts, serving for a time on the executive board of the Greater St. Louis Area Council and as vice president of the SEMO Council.

He also was instrumental in the founding of the Dexter Tree Council and served on the Dexter Memorial Hospital Board of Directors.

Soon the Keathley name will have a new and lasting presence in St. Louis.

“I met Mike Keathley at a Boy Scout Jamboree in 1969,” Kinder recalled recently. “We remained close friends from that day on.”

Kinder, who will be leaving his post as lieutenant governor in 2017, introduced his friend to Jefferson City in 2002 after the Keathleys sold their family business, IXL. The next year, Keathley was named to the top spot in Blunt’s Office of Administration.

Outgoing Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, along with Kinder and Attorney General Chris Koster, make up the Board of Public Buildings. In that capacity, the outgoing governor recently approached Kinder about the possibility of having a state building bear the Kinder name.

Kinder declined but was asked once again, and as the date drew near for a final decision, he thought about his late friend.

“I did not want to participate in an exercise that named a piece of property for me,” Kinder said, “but I really wanted this for Mike.”

Kinder made the motion the Chouteau and Compton State Office Building in St. Louis bear Keathley’s name, and the motion passed unanimously. The building is at 3101 Chouteau Ave.

After his friend’s death in March 2008, Kinder reflected, “Today, Missouri is a better place thanks to the hard work and commitment of Mike Keathley.”

There will be an unveiling at the Michael N. Keathley State Office Building in 2017. A date has yet to be determined.

Pertinent address:

3101 Chouteau Ave., St. Louis, Mo.