James Keith

Courtesy of Jonathan Cohen

James K. Keith Jr. of Wingate, Ind., was probably one of the most generous and kindest people I’ve ever met. Jim was like a second father to me as well as being an amazing teacher, mentor and friend. Besides myself, he taught and mentored numerous farriers and helped educate numerous future veterinarians. He was one of the best and probably one of the humblest farriers I’ve been lucky enough to try to teach me. I know that I drove him nuts, destroyed equipment, pissed off clients and was generally annoying, and he was always patient, kind and took everything with a grain of salt. Besides teaching me the art of farriery, he also provided for me an example of how to treat your clients, colleagues, and fellow human beings. Even though we fell out of touch in the last years of his life, I think of him daily and try to live up to the person he taught me to be.

— Jonathan Cohen, Elgin, Texas