John Michael O'Keefe, Sr.

John Michael O’Keefe, Sr. passed away at the age of 70 on August 25, 2024 in Honolulu, HI. He is survived by his wife, Leah Pau O’Keefe, and former wife Melinda Cowan O’Keefe; son John Michael Jr. (Missy); daughters Jeanne Michelle O’Keefe and Bridgette Lovelace (Kent); grandchildren Connor, London and Parker O’Keefe; Elijah Touchstone, Micah O’Keefe, and Emerson Lux Lovelace. He is also survived by Leah’s children, Lorgan Pau Tusi, Margarita Kaio, Vanessa Fiu and Pau Junior Moenoa from a previous marriage. John was preceded in death by his parents Jeremiah and Annette O’Keefe and brothers Jeremiah ‘Jody’ Jr. and Jim (Janie) and his first wife, Deborah Langlinais. He leaves behind sisters and brothers Maureen Ward, Cecilia Neustrom (Michael), Kathryn Kaye, Virginia O’Keefe, Susan Snyder (Chris), Mary Snell (Bob), Jeffrey (Lynn), Justin (Teresa), Mercedes Huval (David) and Joe, as well as many nieces, nephews and friends.

John was born in 1954 in Biloxi, MS, graduated from Biloxi High School in 1971 and Millsaps College in Jackson in 1975. He served as President of Gulf National Life Insurance Company while his father served as two-term mayor of Biloxi. Interested in important contemporary issues, John, his sister Susan and her husband Chris joined a group formed by Cindy Kennedy of Biloxi to contest the federal plans to store nuclear waste in the salt domes of Mississippi. After meeting famed inventor Buckminster Fuller in connection with that crusade, John embarked on a lifelong mission to promote world peace and nuclear disarmament. 

He designed a ‘Flag for All People,’ which incorporates Fuller’s ‘dymaxion map,’ and carried the flag throughout the world, advocating for peace and denuclearization. In a memorable incident, he was apprehended by machine-gun armed soldiers as he swam across the Red Sea from Israel to Jordan, while carrying the flag. He was ultimately released from custody after convincing his jailers of his good intentions - and that he was not a spy.

In his later years, John settled in Honolulu where he met his dear wife Leah and devoted himself to making art, broad research and reading, and writing. His writing reached its peak this summer, with the publication of an autobiography, The Story of A Flag for All People, recounting his interesting adventures. Local readers will be spellbound by John’s tales of growing up in Biloxi, as well as his travels around the world. And hopefully all readers will spend time reflecting on the question John posed on the cover of his book: “How far are we willing to love? Can we love beyond nationality, beyond religion, beyond all the cultural differences that divide humanity? In so doing, we are unifying the one human race — the one human family on Earth.”

John’s services will be held in Honolulu in the near future. His wishes were to be cremated and his remains spread on the waters of Hawaii, where he surfed and swam. If you wish to remember John in a tangible manner, a contribution to The Carter Center is sure to win you a smile from John in his heavenly perch — and his book is available on Amazon at: https://tinyurl.com/4b6tt9y2