Kim Whitley Horton remembers her Uncle Keith.

Below are memories of Keith from his neice Kim. Kim was the daughter of Keiths late brother, Randy. This kind of tells you straight out what kind of man Keith really was.

My earliest memory of Uncle Keith is the time I was in the first grade and entered the country talent show, he played the guitar and I sang "I LOVE" by Tom T. Hall. I got second place. When I was small I would sit beside him on the couch while he sang me funny songs such as "Sneaky Snake".

I never thought of Uncle Keith as a star, he was always just my Uncle. Despite all his fame, he never changed.

I remember how excited the whole family got when he was home, especially us kids because we knew with Uncle Keith home we were going to have fun. Our typical afternoon was a baseball game in the backyard, then Pa (Keiths dad) would grill our supper and then Uncle Dwight and Uncle Keith would play music and sing. I have a picture of Uncle Keith at one of the last games we played and he has the baseball bat in his mouth with no hands helping to hold it.

The Christmas before my grandpa died, we had a family Christmas party at Aunt Loe's (Mary). The whole family was there and stayed the entire night. That night is one of the happiest memories I have. We all sat around the Christmas tree and each of us had to tell what we were most thankful for. Then we all sang Christmas carols and then Uncle Dwight and Uncle Keith sang. Uncle Keith could always do the best impression of Lester Flatt. He started singing the song "Rub It In" as Lester would have sang it. He then got my brother, Jordan, who was two years old at the time to sing the song in the Lester Flatt voice. It was so funny, they would both turn their mouths to the side when they sang it.

after one of his concerts, I got in the autograph line with the fans. I waited forever. I finally got up to him and asked for a kiss and an autograph. He looked at me and laughed and asked what I was doing in line. He took my shirt and signed " I love you, Uncle Keith". It's my very favorite shirt.

I still have a crumpled slip of paper with Uncle Keiths phone number on it. He gave it to me the day of my Dads funeral and said whenever I needed him, call him.

In April of 1989, I jumped on the bus at one of his concerts just as he was getting ready to go on stage. I gave him a hug and a kiss. He dedicated the song "Its all comin back to me now" to me. That was the last time I ever saw him. I will forever love and miss him.

Kim Whitley Horton