Keith Conrad Melkus

Keith Conrad Melkus

Keith Conrad Melkus passed away on Friday, December 5, 2025, at Via Christi Village in Hays, Kansas at the age of 90. He was born July 5, 1935, on his Melkus grandparent’s farm near the community of Farry, Oklahoma. Keith was the eldest of three sons of the late Alba Connie (A.C.) and Laura May (Reed) Melkus.

Keith was a graduate of Farry High School (1953),  Draughon’s School of Business in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1954), and Northwestern State University in Alva, Oklahoma (1966,1972). He was an educator for 34 years, teaching business skills to students at Coldwater High School, Larned High School and Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa, Oklahoma. He retired in 2000.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Lowell Linn and Francis Rand Melkus, brother & sister-in-law Donald and Lena Fay Engle, and great grandson Jagger Dwight Welch.

Keith is survived by his daughters: Connie Jo Wise and husband, Gary of Woodward, Oklahoma; Vicki D’Ann Johansen and husband, Tom of Hays, Kansas; four grandchildren and their spouses: Jacey Wise Welch (Josh); Elise Johansen Harvey (Alex); Jared Wise (Carrie); Kiley Johansen Barnett (Reid); great grandchildren: Howdy and Jay Paul Welch, Lincoln, Aria, Salem, Abram, Asher and Rosemary Harvey, Bode Wise, and Freya and Lucy Barnett: sisters-in-law Mary Melkus and Katy Melkus and their families and his former wife, Glenna Melkus.

A Celebration of Life service will be at 11:00 am on Friday, December 19, 2025, at Hays Memorial Chapel Funeral Home in Hays.  The family will receive friends from 10:00 am until service time at the funeral home.  He will rest near the family farm in Preston Hill Cemetery near Farry in Woods County, Oklahoma.  In lieu of flowers, Keith requested memorials to the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation in Alva, Oklahoma. Condolences and memories of Keith as an educator, leader, and friend may be left for his family at www.haysmemorial.com