Friends,
John Keller, longtime Pillsbury Neighborhood Association President and advocate for the Pillsbury Neighborhood that he called home for decades, passed this week. John was many things in life (student at Bunn Elementary School, husband, father, business owner) but first and foremost in the later years he was a person that cared deeply about his neighbors and his beloved Pillsbury Neighborhood.
All you need to do is Google Springfield Pillsbury/John Keller and you will quickly see that he was on the record in the media for over 20 years working to find long-term solutions for how best to deal with the former Pillsbury Mills site that closed permanently in 2001. He carried the voices of the neighborhood to city hall and beyond. There were many years of slow going and backsliding, but he never gave up. And he embraced the Moving Forward Working group as we formed to see what could be done to improve the dismal situation after the infamous dog incident in October of 2019.
Moving Pillsbury Forward joined John and his neighbors in late 2019. Together we studied the issue carefully and designed a plan. A plan that would take several years to play out. A plan that has nearly advanced to the favorable outcome we have all been driving towards. A plan that has gathered over $9.0M in commitments and is looking ahead to large-scale demolition in the coming months.
Today, we pray that John’s spirit remains with us as we continue forward and see the Pillsbury Project through to a successful conclusion: Cleanup, Demolition, and Renewal. We know that our success is due in part to his unwavering efforts over many years and we admire his grit and tenacity.
THANK YOU, John Keller! May you rest in peace.
~ Team Pillsbury