Richard Keith Antill ("Keith"), of Charlottesville, Virginia died on July 4, 2019. Keith was the oldest of three children born of the late Richard Antill and the late Claire Antill of Bedford, Massachusetts.

Keith is survived by his wife Karen Antill of Melrose MA, his daughters Erica Antill of Portland OR and Haley Antill of MA, his brother Cary Antill and his wife Jennifer Miller-Antill of Williamsburg, MA, as well as sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Keith's death was preceded by that of his parents and his sister Jeanne Antill of Bedford and Montague, MA.

Keith was born in California, like his father before him. He traveled there as often as possible to be with the aunts, uncles, and cousins whom he loved and visited during the summers of his youth.  When Keith was three years old, his parents moved their young family east to Bedford, Massachusetts. Keith and his two younger siblings thrived in the small New England community with lots of woods and creeks to explore. What adventures they had!

Keith liked to play leader or general and rounded up younger siblings and neighborhood friends for baseball games at the school, war games in the woods, and later, boating on the Concord River. His love of baseball inspired a lifelong passion for the Boston Red Sox. Keith was active in Boy Scouts throughout his childhood, and was an Eagle Scout by the end of high school. During one boy scout camping trip, a friendly stray dog came crashing into the campsite; Keith brought the dog home and named him Mucho.

At Bedford High School, Keith was very active: he ran on the cross-country team, was an announcer for the football team's home games, and played in a band that performed at school functions and parties. He continued to play in bands in college and afterwards.

Keith graduated from Boston University as an English Major and later received a certificate in International Business from the University of Maryland. After college, he spent some time traveling in Germany, learning his mother's language and visiting her hometown of Bad Wimpfen; he spoke often of these travels. For several years he worked at Digital Equipment Corporation, where he met his future wife Karen. He then left employment at Digital to make his living as a freelance writer and started his first business, The Imagine Company of Pepperell, MA. He later also opened The Animation Company of Concord, MA.

Keith and Karen got married on June 19, 1982, at the North Parish of North Andover Unitarian Universalist Church, and spent their honeymoon in Germany. Their first daughter, Erica, was born in 1983, just two weeks before they moved into the home they had bought in Pepperell, MA. Their second daughter, Haley, was born in 1986.

Keith was so enamored of his daughters from the time they were born. He wanted to create a life that would seed their imaginations, and build a world just for them.  This ranged from building a tree-house complete with railings for safety, to installing an above-ground swimming pool that provided endless fun with family and friends.

Keith was the music of the family and created a soundtrack for the family's life together. This took many forms, from playing Beatles songs on his 12-string guitar and leading the family in Christmas carols to introducing the kids to Classic rock and selecting music for the family's cross-country trips. Keith loved to travel, and during these road trips the family explored 42 states together. It was so important to him that the family experience America together, to see the people and places of this beautiful country he loved, and how they were all different and special. Of all the family's travels, Lake George in New York was the most frequent destination, and the family stayed at Hearthstone Campground nearly every summer. The family's time spent there was full of fun and adventure, relaxation and joy, and they made some of their fondest memories there.

Keith and Karen both loved animals, and pets were important to the family. Along with Max the cat, who belonged to Keith before he met Karen, they also had dogs including Jason, Toby, and Daisy, and cats including Rainbow, Katie, Buddy, and Cisco. Toby accompanied the family on every vacation and road trip. He and Keith were inseparable for many years, and could often be found walking in the field behind the house and at Groton Place Park. Daisy was Keith's dog later in life. She was a constant loyal companion to him, and a joy to all who knew her.

Keith had come of age to the music of The Beatles. He so admired the music and talent of John Lennon that, ever the film enthusiast, he devoted a good deal of time writing a screenplay of Lennon's life, titled The John Lennon Story .

Keith directed a film trailer, called Imagine, based on his screenplay. This was done together with a Boston Film company, a local film crew, and his wife Karen, who all invested their time and expertise to make this trailer. This expertise included production, camera, lighting, sound, continuity, costume design, hair stylist, make-up artist, and post-production. The cast was from Boston, New York, the UK, and Canada. Once complete, the trailer was presented to and viewed by Robert Stigwood in his New York penthouse theater that overlooked Central Park, who decided that he wanted to produce the film. However, Yoko Ono had not given permission for the film to move forward, and Keith was not willing to disrespect the wishes of John Lennon's widow and went no further on this project.

Over several decades, Keith and his Mom, Claire, researched the genealogy of the Antill family. They were able to track the Antill lineage back to the earliest American ancestor, Henry Antill, who came to this country before the Revolutionary War and resided in Virginia. This family sleuthing involved years of painstaking research, extensive trips to small town archives in Virginia, and some travel to the UK. Using historic passenger log information, they identified the village in England from which this first American ancestor migrated. Keith and Claire's dedicated work on this family history is a gift for which the Antill family will always be grateful.

Keith loved history and reading, and the outdoors was his sanctuary. As a young man, he spent a great deal of time in deep reflection on Authors' Ridge in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery of Concord, MA. As an adult, he was always embroiled in a history book or a biography of a historical figure. He would often regale the family with stories from these books in a way that made them come alive. Once on a walk in Concord, MA he happened upon and had a brief conversation with one of his favorite authors, Doris Kerns Goodwin. He greatly admired her work and wealth of knowledge, and spoke of this meeting many times.

Keith spent the last years of his life in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he had yearned to live for many years. He spent this time writing and playing his guitar for anyone who would listen, occasionally busking at the Charlottesville Downtown Mall. He especially loved riding the CAT buses to get around town and spending time in the University of Virginia library. He was proud to be called "The Cowboy of C-ville" by his friends. He passed away in the University of Virginia hospital, surrounded by his family. We are so grateful that he had the best possible care at the end of his life.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Keith's name may be made to the National Park Foundation, 1500 K St. NW Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005.

A memorial service to remember and celebrate Keith's life will be held at 1:00 PM on October 1, 2022 at the Bedford Funeral Home, 167 Great Rd, Bedford, Massachusetts. For livestream of the service :  https://my.gather.app/remember/keith-antill Keith's ashes will be spread in a private ceremony. Condolences or memories may be left in the obituary guestbook accessible from https://www.bedfordfuneralhome.com/obits .

Keith is deeply missed by his family. We will always feel he had more to give the world, and are heartbroken that he had to go.