Some of you may remember Keith or Keiter. He was an Ojai Local who died in front of the Ojai Valley Library on Aug. 16, 2007. His friend, Rev. Cynthia Rae Eastman together with Kit Willis Ojai’s Librarian have arranged to have an “Honor Library” to memorialize Keiter and as a gift to the Ojai Community. It will be a bookcase outside the Ojai Valley Library. It will be stocked with new and used books. The KEITER HONOR LIBRARY will operate on the honor system, making inspirational reading material available around the clock to all members of the community.
A dedication of “Keiter’s Honor Library” will be held on SUNDAY MARCH 8, 2009 AT 2:00PM (remember daylight savings. Cynthia Eastman will speak at the event and Bob Ballard will sing a song he wrote in memory of Keith.
Please come out and join us to Honor Keith and this new Library.

Keith (or Keiter) was born in Ventura and lived most of his life here in the Ojai Valley. On Thursday, August 16, 2007, he was found dead outside the Ojai Library. He was 46 years old.
I am writing this in remembrance of my friend Keith Stolz. I met him about six years ago. I would walk the bike path with my two dogs in the early morning. We would meet him half way through. Sometimes Keith would walk with us and other times we would just stop to say hi. I have many stories in my memory about how kind and compassionate Keith was. I would like to share two of them.
A while back, I was going through some traumatic times. Keith saw me one day crying. He shared some sweet words and I went on my way. The next morning, there was a little white heart shaped rock in the palm of my St. Francis statue. I cannot put in to words how much light that little stone brought into my life. I collected heart shaped rocks and I could not think of a soul who would have put it there. My life was full of darkness and every time I saw it I smiled. I swore an angel had placed it there. Weeks went by and Keith stopped by for a visit. It was then he shared that he had carved the heart out of an alabaster stone and placed it there on his way to church. St. Francis has held that rock for the last two and half years.
It was rare that Keith would ask me for anything. One evening, he showed up at my house with tears in his eyes. He said that a car had hit Jeff, his best friend, and he didn’t know if he was alive. I told him to get in the car and we would go find which hospital he was at. When we found Jeff, Keith embraced him with such love that I was in awe. It was so endearing. I had to ask myself, “Do I have a best friend that would be so genuine, compassionate, and upset if I was hurt?”
When I first heard of Keith’s death, I was not surprised. I was grateful that his spirit left his body at the library and not someplace else. It was my understanding that Keith had been in and out of the hospital for heart and liver problems for many months. For the last two months, every time I saw him I was worried it was going to be the last. One of the last times I saw him, he told me he was dying. I hugged him and told him I loved him and was worried about him. He replied, “Oh honey, don’t worry about me. I can’t wait to go fishing with Jesus”.