Dennis J. Keehan garnered national attention as a gifted young jockey, but a horse racing accident at age 21 left him paralyzed from the waist down, ending his brief career on the track.
The Chicago native later fueled his competitive drive by playing pocket billiards -- on crutches or from a wheelchair -- in amateur leagues and tournaments.
Denny “Sweet Stroke” Keehan, as he was sometimes called, became a well-known figure in the pool circuit throughout the city and country.
Mr. Keehan, who last resided in Chicago Ridge, died of cancer on May 4 at his sister’s home in Worth. He was 68.
Born on Jan. 19, 1943, Mr. Keehan grew up in Mount Greenwood on Chicago’s Southwest Side. While attending Mendel Catholic High School, Mr. Keehan was a quiet, reserved student who dominated as a wrestler, winning 40 of 43 matches.
Because of his short stature and incredible strength, his wrestling coach recommended he look into a career as a jockey. Though Mr. Keehan had no experience with horses other than once taking a picture with a pony, he turned down a wrestling scholarship for the racetrack, his sister Dotty Schumpp said.
Mr. Keehan started at the bottom, cleaning stables and walking horses, but he quickly showed his promise as a jockey.
Mr. Keehan took first place in his first professional race and later broke two track records at the former Sportsman’s Park in Cicero. He was nationally ranked as one of the top apprentice jockeys with 625 mounts and 83 wins in his short nine-month career.
“That is a tremendous feat,” said his friend, Dan Lynch, a retired judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. “He had an extraordinary number of mounts; that would be unheard of as an apprentice. That’s how good he was.”
On April 25, 1964, at Sportsman’s Park, Mr. Keehan fell during a race and was trampled by other horses. After months of hospitalization, doctors said he would never walk again.
“He accepted what happened to him,” Schumpp said. “He had more heart than anybody.”
Though he had to use leg braces and crutches to get around, and later a wheelchair, friends said he never complained and continued to live and drive independently.
After the accident Mr. Keehan also discovered a passion for pool, which he picked up during his downtime at the racetrack. As a paraplegic, however, he had to develop gadgets that would help him reach shots across the table.
Mr. Keehan ended up competing with some of the best pool players nationwide, according to Jim Parker, president of the Illinois Billiard Club, and he became the second leading point holder in the country in a wheelchair league.
For some time, Mr. Keehan also owned his own billiard hall in Michigan.
“He was so inspirational in the way he dealt with all this adversity and all this pain,” Parker said. Occasionally, while maneuvering around the pool table, “you could see that the pain would hit him. He’d just cringe for 30 or 40 seconds and then it’d pass. He wouldn’t say a word.”
Mr. Keehan wrote a book about his life that, once published, will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
Mr. Keehan is preceded in death by his parents, Gerald and Dorothy Keehan, and brother Jerry Keehan.
A memorial service is pending.
ObituaryChicago.com
http://www.obituarychicago.com/2011/05/disabled-jockey-well-known-in-chicagos.html
The Chicago native later fueled his competitive drive by playing pocket billiards -- on crutches or from a wheelchair -- in amateur leagues and tournaments.
Denny “Sweet Stroke” Keehan, as he was sometimes called, became a well-known figure in the pool circuit throughout the city and country.
Mr. Keehan, who last resided in Chicago Ridge, died of cancer on May 4 at his sister’s home in Worth. He was 68.
Born on Jan. 19, 1943, Mr. Keehan grew up in Mount Greenwood on Chicago’s Southwest Side. While attending Mendel Catholic High School, Mr. Keehan was a quiet, reserved student who dominated as a wrestler, winning 40 of 43 matches.
Because of his short stature and incredible strength, his wrestling coach recommended he look into a career as a jockey. Though Mr. Keehan had no experience with horses other than once taking a picture with a pony, he turned down a wrestling scholarship for the racetrack, his sister Dotty Schumpp said.
Mr. Keehan started at the bottom, cleaning stables and walking horses, but he quickly showed his promise as a jockey.
Mr. Keehan took first place in his first professional race and later broke two track records at the former Sportsman’s Park in Cicero. He was nationally ranked as one of the top apprentice jockeys with 625 mounts and 83 wins in his short nine-month career.
“That is a tremendous feat,” said his friend, Dan Lynch, a retired judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. “He had an extraordinary number of mounts; that would be unheard of as an apprentice. That’s how good he was.”
On April 25, 1964, at Sportsman’s Park, Mr. Keehan fell during a race and was trampled by other horses. After months of hospitalization, doctors said he would never walk again.
“He accepted what happened to him,” Schumpp said. “He had more heart than anybody.”
Though he had to use leg braces and crutches to get around, and later a wheelchair, friends said he never complained and continued to live and drive independently.
After the accident Mr. Keehan also discovered a passion for pool, which he picked up during his downtime at the racetrack. As a paraplegic, however, he had to develop gadgets that would help him reach shots across the table.
Mr. Keehan ended up competing with some of the best pool players nationwide, according to Jim Parker, president of the Illinois Billiard Club, and he became the second leading point holder in the country in a wheelchair league.
For some time, Mr. Keehan also owned his own billiard hall in Michigan.
“He was so inspirational in the way he dealt with all this adversity and all this pain,” Parker said. Occasionally, while maneuvering around the pool table, “you could see that the pain would hit him. He’d just cringe for 30 or 40 seconds and then it’d pass. He wouldn’t say a word.”
Mr. Keehan wrote a book about his life that, once published, will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
Mr. Keehan is preceded in death by his parents, Gerald and Dorothy Keehan, and brother Jerry Keehan.
A memorial service is pending.
ObituaryChicago.com
http://www.obituarychicago.com/2011/05/disabled-jockey-well-known-in-chicagos.html
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