Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....O'Keefe, William John July 1, 1937
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Robert Woolfitt http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00034.html#0008401 March 10, 2023, 12:59 pm

Virginian-Pilot  July 2, 1937
William John O’Keefe, nationally known caterer, and well known to practically 
every resident of Norfolk, died last night at 9:20 o’clock at the home of his 
nephew, John J. O’Keefe, 738 Graydon Park. He was in the 66th year of his age.
Mr. O’Keefe was born in Philadelphia, and had resided in Norfolk since he was six 
years old.
For many years, he operated what was known as the O’Keefe Casino, at Cape Henry, 
and many of the world’s noted men, including several Presidents of the United 
States and many senators and congressmen, were entertained there.
Mr. O'Keefe specialized in the serving of Lynnhaven oysters, and his fame as a 
caterer spread from one end of the country to the other, and even across the 
Atlantic. Foreign diplomats came to his place in search of oysters served as Mr. 
O’Keefe alone could serve them.
                     Visited By Presidents
President Taft visited the O’Keefe establishment on several occasions while he was 
Chief Executive. It is claimed that he ate eight dozen oysters at one sitting, and 
bought two barrels that were shipped to him at the White House. President Harding 
also was a patron of the place, and President Theodore Roosevelt made several 
visits there.
Mr. O’Keefe also won fame because of his daily dips in the Chesapeake Bay. For 
years, he would dive into the bay every day. He has been known to walk on ice in 
the winter in order to reach clear water in which to take his dip.
He is survived by a sister, Miss Ellie O’Keefe; two nieces, Mrs. J. Frank East, 
Jr., and Miss Carolyn O’Keefe, and four nephews, Dr. J. J. O’Keefe, William A., 
Thomas P. and Raymond V. O’Keefe, all of Norfolk. Funeral services will be held 
tomorrow morning at 11 o’clock at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Burial will be in 
St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Mr. O’Keefe was a brother of the late John J. O’Keefe and was a member of Sacred 
Heart Church and the Holy Name society. The members of the Holy Name Society of 
Sacred Heart Church will meet at the O’Keefe residence tonight at 8 o’clock for 
the recitation of the Rosary.
Mr. O’Keefe, in recent years, had been involved in two accidents and, in the last 
several months ago in which he was struck by an automobile, he was confined to a 
hospital for a prolonged period.

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