The RHA sends heartfelt condolences to Sylvia Felcyn and the Felcyn family.
Keith Gabriel Felcyn
Born to Lucille Claire Dodge and Michael Clement Felcyn in Madelia, Minnesota, on December 17, 1930, Keith grew up in Jackson, Minnesota. He began his long career in journalism writing articles for his high school newspaper, next graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1952 as a Journalism major.
After college, Keith joined the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Trained at Camp Atterbury in Indiana and stationed in Dearborn, MI, he rose to the rank of Sergeant.
After leaving the military, Keith worked for the United Press wire service (before it became UPI) in Minneapolis, eventually becoming overnight bureau manager in Detroit. When he discovered that the building’s janitor was paid better than he was, Keith moved to Business Week Magazine, embarking on a 40-year career with the publication as assistant news manager in Detroit in 1956.
In 1957, Keith became Business Week’s Milwaukee bureau chief, and in 1960 became bureau chief in Chicago-a city he loved dearly and where he met his wife, Sylvia Mary Blackburn, in 1964. Keith and Sylvia married the following year.
In 1968, Keith was awarded a Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University in Palo Alto, where the couple lived for six months. Their son, George Dodge, was born later that year. The family soon moved to a Frank Lloyd Wright home in suburban Kenilworth known as the “Hiram Baldwin House.” In 1971, their daughter, Lindsay Julia, was born. Keith also served as President of the Joseph Sears School Parents’ Association, leading meetings after commuting home by train after work.
In 1975, Keith was transferred to NYC to become Business Week’s Chief of Correspondents, overseeing 25 news bureaus scattered around the country and the world. The family moved to Greenwich, CT. Following his retirement in 1996, Keith served on the boards of the Greenwich Emergency Medical Service, the Greenwich Tree Conservancy, and the Round Hill Association-also serving as its President for 4 terms and writing its newsletter for 18 years. Keith also became an enthusiastic member of the Belle Haven Club’s “Good Old Boys” tennis team.
In 2018, Keith and Sylvia moved to St. George Village in Roswell, GA, to be near family.
Keith was a tennis player, poker fiend, and classic car enthusiast late into life, as well as an avid fan of often past-their-prime Midwestern sports teams. He loved travel, art, all kinds of music, a good joke, an enthusiastic debate, and a rich vocabulary.
Keith is survived by his beloved wife, Sylvia, his children George (married to Magdalena Bendini) and Lindsay (married to Glenn Zaccara) and grandsons Casey, Dodge, Ignacio, and Pablo.
