We regret to advise of the death of Captain Rollie Keith, CD (Ret’d), in Chilliwack General Hospital on 1 October 2025 at the age of 89 years. Rollie was an Armoured Corps officer who served at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering and at Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack and was very much part of our CME Family.
Inspired by his father, a First World War veteran of Vimy Ridge, Rollie joined the Army in 1955 during the Cold War. He began his career as an Armoured Corps Trooper and served more than 32 years in the Canadian Army. Rollie’s service included postings with Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), the Canadian Airborne Regiment, and the 8th Canadian Hussars.
Soon after completing his Basic Armoured Corps training, Rolly deployed to the Middle East during the 1956 Suez Crisis as a Ferret Scout Car driver with 56th Canadian Reconnaissance Squadron in the Sinai. Decades later, he served as a UN military observer in the Balkans during the Kosovo conflict, and in the early 2000s, travelled to Baghdad as an impartial observer before the Iraq War.
Rollie was the Armoured Corps Tactics Instructor at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (1978-80). He retired from the Canadian Forces in 1982 and earned a degree in history from Simon Fraser University. Rollie then returned to the Canadian Forces and served four more years at CFB Chilliwack with Base Ops before retiring from the Canadian Forces in 1991.
Rolly was deeply involved in his communities. A committed civic participant, he twice ran as the provincial New Democratic Party candidate for Chilliwack- Fraser Canyon. He was an enthusiastic participant in the “Left Coast Lancer” luncheons organized by the local Strathcona Association branch. Rollie was also Chair of the Fraser Valley Health Region, Vice-President of the Chilliwack Military Education Centre, and a frequent speaker in local schools on military history. Rollie also accompanied numerous battlefield tours in Europe as a historian, primarily focusing on the Second World War.
A Legion Poppy service will be held on Tuesday, 14 October at 1300 hr at Branch #295 Chilliwack-Vedder Legion {5661 Vedder Rd, Chilliwack}. While the dress is casual, retired RCAC members are encouraged to wear regimental blazer, regimental tie, and medals.