Help needed-finding family

mikemo · 01-06-2009, 07:12 PM

You will be happy to know that Cecile has been "reunited" with her American cousins. With the help of Warren's great detective work, I was able to speak with Cecile's cousin, Thomas Keene's son. He was very happy to learn that she was seeking him out and was actually recently thinking of trying to locate his French cousins. Ce'cile called me from Paris and was ecstatic after hearing from him.
I had received the original email from Cecile looking for assistance.

Waterbaby · 01-06-2009, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemo

You will be happy to know that Cecile has been "reunited" with her American cousins. With the help of Warren's great detective work, I was able to speak with Cecile's cousin, Thomas Keene's son. He was very happy to learn that she was seeking him out and was actually recently thinking of trying to locate his French cousins. Ce'cile called me from Paris and was ecstatic after hearing from him.
I had received the original email from Cecile looking for assistance.

Wonderful news, thanks for the update. Now, can you tell us where the son lives? Just generally? Lakes Region? Are YOU Mr. Keene's son? And the mystery continues! lol and thanks!

mikemo · 01-07-2009, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterbaby

Wonderful news, thanks for the update. Now, can you tell us where the son lives? Just generally? Lakes Region? Are YOU Mr. Keene's son? And the mystery continues! lol and thanks!

Waterbaby,
No I am not Mr. Keenes son. I am the Police Chief for the Laconia Police Department. After exausting all avenues, Ms. Breda apparently reached out to me as she explained she had "no where else to go." ( I had never met her). I contacted Warren Huse from the Citizen for some assistance as he is an historian with a wealth of knowledge. Mr. Keene's son was was located and I phoned him with her request. ( He lives in the Plymouth, NH area). Both were "reunited" and according to them, it was a wonderful "Christmas present." It certainly made my week......
Regards,
Mike Moyer

Resident 2B · 01-07-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemo

Waterbaby,
No I am not Mr. Keenes son. I am the Police Chief for the Laconia Police Department. After exausting all avenues, Ms. Breda apparently reached out to me as she explained she had "no where else to go." ( I had never met her). I contacted Warren Huse from the Citizen for some assistance as he is an historian with a wealth of knowledge. Mr. Keene's son was was located and I phoned him with her request. ( He lives in the Plymouth, NH area). Both were "reunited" and according to them, it was a wonderful "Christmas present." It certainly made my week......
Regards,
Mike Moyer

Great job Mike and welcome to the forum!

Many times, the police, in general, get the short end of the stick when it comes to PR. You have demonstrated by example why we are so lucky to have the LPD around. Great leadership, in my opinion!

R2B

SIKSUKR · 01-07-2009, 03:34 PM

Did I mention how much I love the police?Please remember SS if I screw up in the future!

chipj29 · 01-08-2009, 08:45 AM

Great thread, with a great result! Nice job for the Laconia police to do what they could to help. Kudos to Mr. Moyer!

PS, SS, you are shameless!

LanceKeene · 01-11-2009, 11:44 PM

Hi Folks. I’m Lance Keene son of Lucette & Tom Keene. First of all let me thank you for helping me reconnect with my family in France. After the death of my mother in 1967 I had no further contact with the family in France. It was a wonderful Christmas present to talk/video with Cécile and the rest of the family on Christmas day. Cécile translated the conversation into French for the family and I translated it into Spanish as my wife doesn’t speak English. We had a blast and talked for 3 hours! Cécile had difficulty finding me because she was looking for Lucien Keene. When I was an infant my mother took me to France but only used my middle name Lucien (the name of my grandfather). Therefore the whole family thought my first name was Lucien.

So what happened to Tom Keene and the Dive Shop? Several years after my mother died Tom married Jean Walter of Lakeport and together they ran the dive shop and the cottages. In 1981 they retired and moved to Florida (as required by NH law, ha ha). On April 9, 1991 Tom passed away after a long battle with lung cancer. It was a very sad time.

As for me, I joined the Army as a computer programmer in 1980. I lived in Germany and learned to speak German quite well. In 1984 I left the Army and start my degree in computer science at Florida Institute of Technology. In 1988 I graduated and moved to Texas where I started a software company. In the late 1990s I got the itch to move back to New Hampshire. I purchased the top of a mountain in Thornton, NH in 1997 and moved back to NH in 1999. Although I own a software consulting firm (see: www.KeeneSystems.com ) I enjoy working with my hands and stone masonry is my hobby. I’m building a medieval stone castle on the site. (see: http://www.sql-server-vb-asp.net/montana_8_4_07 ) I know, I’m a nut just like my father. He always taught me “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. In August 2008 I finally moved to Campton, NH so I could be close to my castle project. It’s great to be back up here in the mountains!

Since all of you were kind enough to help me out I put together a web page to share with you. It contains many rare pictures of Tom and Lucette and the Dive Shop in the Wiers. I hope you enjoy it: http://www.sql-server-vb-asp.net/keenefamily/Diving/index.htm

Best,

Lance Keene

SteveA · 01-12-2009, 06:34 AM

What a great story. Thanks for starting my day with a smile. Best wishes for you and your new baby girl.

AB_Monterey · 01-12-2009, 01:17 PM

This is such a great story.

Thanks for the tribute page!

upthesaukee · 01-12-2009, 06:13 PM

...and congratulations to your generation of "Keene's".

May you always have many great memories of your mother and father, and thank goodness you have so many things to share with your daughter and other family members, present and future.

Thanks for the update.

Mark · 01-07-2009, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikemo

You will be happy to know that Cecile has been "reunited" with her American cousins. {snip} Ce'cile called me from Paris and was ecstatic after hearing from him.
I had received the original email from Cecile looking for assistance.

We know how to pronounce and translate the native American word Winnipesaukee in to English. Winnipesaukee, The Smile of the Great Spirit.

What is the French word for Winnipesaukee?

01-07-2009, 03:34 PM	#5
SIKSUKR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,075 Thanks: 215 Thanked 903 Times in 509 Posts	Did I mention how much I love the police?Please remember SS if I screw up in the future! __________________ SIKSUKR

01-08-2009, 08:45 AM	#6
chipj29 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bow Posts: 1,874 Thanks: 521 Thanked 308 Times in 162 Posts	Great thread, with a great result! Nice job for the Laconia police to do what they could to help. Kudos to Mr. Moyer! PS, SS, you are shameless! __________________ Getting ready for winter!

01-12-2009, 06:34 AM	#8
SteveA Deceased Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gilford, NH Posts: 2,311 Thanks: 1,070 Thanked 2,054 Times in 497 Posts	Thank You Lance What a great story. Thanks for starting my day with a smile. Best wishes for you and your new baby girl. __________________ "Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry he'll be a mile away and barefoot!" unknown

01-12-2009, 06:13 PM	#10
upthesaukee Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Alton Bay Posts: 5,616 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 2,483 Thanked 1,988 Times in 1,088 Posts	Nice to hear the update, Lance... ...and congratulations to your generation of "Keene's". May you always have many great memories of your mother and father, and thank goodness you have so many things to share with your daughter and other family members, present and future. Thanks for the update. __________________ I Live Here... I am always UPTHESAUKEE !!!!

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01-06-2009, 07:12 PM	#1
mikemo Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 5 Thanks: 1 Thanked 7 Times in 3 Posts	You will be happy to know that Cecile has been "reunited" with her American cousins. With the help of Warren's great detective work, I was able to speak with Cecile's cousin, Thomas Keene's son. He was very happy to learn that she was seeking him out and was actually recently thinking of trying to locate his French cousins. Ce'cile called me from Paris and was ecstatic after hearing from him. I had received the original email from Cecile looking for assistance.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to mikemo For This Useful Post:
Mark (01-07-2009), trfour (01-06-2009), Waterbaby (01-06-2009)

The Following User Says Thank You to mikemo For This Useful Post:
ApS (01-13-2009)

The Following User Says Thank You to Resident 2B For This Useful Post:
mikemo (01-07-2009)

01-11-2009, 11:44 PM	#7
LanceKeene Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3 Thanks: 0 Thanked 18 Times in 2 Posts	Hi Folks. I’m Lance Keene son of Lucette & Tom Keene. First of all let me thank you for helping me reconnect with my family in France. After the death of my mother in 1967 I had no further contact with the family in France. It was a wonderful Christmas present to talk/video with Cécile and the rest of the family on Christmas day. Cécile translated the conversation into French for the family and I translated it into Spanish as my wife doesn’t speak English. We had a blast and talked for 3 hours! Cécile had difficulty finding me because she was looking for Lucien Keene. When I was an infant my mother took me to France but only used my middle name Lucien (the name of my grandfather). Therefore the whole family thought my first name was Lucien. So what happened to Tom Keene and the Dive Shop? Several years after my mother died Tom married Jean Walter of Lakeport and together they ran the dive shop and the cottages. In 1981 they retired and moved to Florida (as required by NH law, ha ha). On April 9, 1991 Tom passed away after a long battle with lung cancer. It was a very sad time. As for me, I joined the Army as a computer programmer in 1980. I lived in Germany and learned to speak German quite well. In 1984 I left the Army and start my degree in computer science at Florida Institute of Technology. In 1988 I graduated and moved to Texas where I started a software company. In the late 1990s I got the itch to move back to New Hampshire. I purchased the top of a mountain in Thornton, NH in 1997 and moved back to NH in 1999. Although I own a software consulting firm (see: www.KeeneSystems.com ) I enjoy working with my hands and stone masonry is my hobby. I’m building a medieval stone castle on the site. (see: http://www.sql-server-vb-asp.net/montana_8_4_07 ) I know, I’m a nut just like my father. He always taught me “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. In August 2008 I finally moved to Campton, NH so I could be close to my castle project. It’s great to be back up here in the mountains! Since all of you were kind enough to help me out I put together a web page to share with you. It contains many rare pictures of Tom and Lucette and the Dive Shop in the Wiers. I hope you enjoy it: http://www.sql-server-vb-asp.net/keenefamily/Diving/index.htm Best, Lance Keene

The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to LanceKeene For This Useful Post:
ApS (01-13-2009), RLW (01-13-2009), Senter Cove Guy (01-12-2009), SteveA (01-12-2009), Sunset Bob (01-12-2009), upthesaukee (01-12-2009), Waterbaby (01-12-2009)

01-12-2009, 01:17 PM	#9
AB_Monterey Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Alton Bay Posts: 293 Thanks: 86 Thanked 78 Times in 49 Posts	This is such a great story. Thanks for the tribute page!