2014 -- H 8163

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LC005663

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING ARTHUR KEEGAN FOR 76 YEARS OF INSPIRED SERVICE TO THE BOY

SCOUTS OF AMERICA AND CONGRATULATING HIM FOR RECEIVING THE "GOOD

SCOUT AWARD"

     Introduced By: Representatives Morin, Phillips, Casey, Bennett, and Guthrie

     Date Introduced: May 08, 2014

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Arthur Keegan began his distinguished scouting career at the age of 12

when he joined the Boy Scouts of America. His youthful love for all things scouting turned into a

lifetime commitment as he has served the Boy Scouts of America with loving devotion and

energetic exuberance for the past 76 years. For his outstanding service to the Boy Scouts of

America, Mr. Keegan will receive the "Good Scout Award"; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Keegan served as a scout for more than six years. While most young

folks tend to end their scouting careers when they turn 18, for Arthur his adventures in the

wonderful world of scouting had just begun. He went on to serve in numerous leadership

positions at the district level, as a committee member, as vice chairman, chairman, unit

commissioner, assistant district commissioner, and as district commissioner. He later served as

the Health and Safety Committee Chairman at the council level, as the Activities Committee

Chairman, and as the Assistant Council Commissioner and the Council Commissioner; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Keegan says that the highlight of his scouting career was his

involvement with numerous national scout jamborees. He worked at twelve jamborees from his

first national jamboree in 1953, in California, to the most recent jamboree he attended in West

Virginia; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Keegan's father passed away in 1942, when Arthur was just 16 years

old, and he was forced to leave school and become the primary provider for his family. To

support his family he worked at various jobs including being a florist, a bartender and working in

an ice cream parlor. Despite the hardships he endured, he always worked hard and impressed his

superiors. He eventually attained a job working for an electric company and began working his

way up the ladder; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Keegan went on to earn his high school equivalency and attended the

New England School of Technology to study air conditioning and refrigeration. He later attended

the University of Rhode Island at night and attained a bachelor's degree in business

administration. He also went on to become a certified protection professional and graduated from

the Defense Industrial Security Institute in Richmond, Virginia; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Keegan also served the Red Cross as a volunteer for more than fifty

years, serving as a first-aid instructor and in numerous other positions within that organization.

He also received numerous awards and honors throughout his life including the Silver Beaver

Award, the Kiwanis Club Citizen of the Year Award, the District Award of Merit, the Silver

Antelope Award, the Saint George Emblem, the Ad Altari Dei Medal, the Scouters Key, the

Wood Badge, the American Red Cross Clara Barton Award, and the Shofar Award from the

National Jewish Committee. He was married to the late Mary Keegan, and has two children,

Arthur Keegan Jr., and Eleanor Pierannunzi; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby honors Arthur Keegan for his 76 years of inspired service to the

Boy Scouts of America and congratulates him for receiving the "Good Scout Award"; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Arthur Keegan.

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LC005663

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