CHS Distinguished Alumni
Keats R. McKinney
Class of 1930
Keats R. McKinney graduated from CHS in 1930, earned Bachelor's and Master's
degrees from Phillips University, attended the University of Arizona and Harvard while in the Navy
and was granted a Doctorate from the University of Oklahoma.
He began his lengthy career in education teaching at Phillips University, working in El Reno
schools and in Crescent, serving as elementary and high school principal, athletic coach and superintendent.
His wife, Marva, a Crescent native, also taught here, along with earning Bachelor's and Master's degrees
from Phillips University and OU.
McKinney's next advancement came when he was named Dean at
Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. In 1965 he was asked to start Metropolitan State College in
Denver, which rapidly grew from an enrollment of 1200 to 17,000.
He served as a member of the North
Central Committee of Accreditation for colleges and universities in a nineteen state area, including
Oklahoma.
Keats was a church worker and community promoter in all his locations. Crescent will remember
his being President of the Lions Club and an elder in the First Christian Church.
During his service
in the Navy, he was a staff officer under Admiral Nimitz in the Pacific.
The McKinneys have two daughters,
one in Denver the other in Alaska.
Since his retirement, McKinney has continued a longtime interest in
antique shows and has traveled in over 100 countries with his daughters and grandchildren.
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