PORTLAND – Keith Emeric Galli passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 in Portland. Keith was born June 22, 1930 in Staten Island, N.Y. His late father, Fidele “Ponce” Galli was born in Barre, Vt. to a Swiss-Italian family. Ponce moved to New York City in the 1920s to work on Wall Street. Keith’s late mother, Winifred Emeric Galli, was born near Liverpool, England and moved with her parents to New York City in 1912 at the age of 8.

A naturally talented athlete, Keith was a star basketball player at Tottenville High School on Staten Island, becoming a top scorer for the Staten Island High School All Star Team. He was also a gifted student, and was placed in an accelerated program in high school in order to enroll in college at the age of 16. Keith graduated from the University of Vermont in 1951 with a liberal arts degree. Nicknamed “Stretch” for his 6 foot 5 inches’ tall frame, Keith led the UVM basketball team two years in a row to the All Yankee Conference, a competition among New England colleges and universities.

Not only did he take to the hoops, but Keith found himself even more at home on the golf course. He discovered the game when he was 10 years old as a way to spend more time outdoors as he recovered from pneumonia. By the time he was in college, he had won the New York City Junior Golf Championship. As an adult, Keith became an avid scratch golfer, winning multiple club championships at the Richmond County Country Club in Staten Island, N.Y., and Spring Brook Country Club in Morristown, N.J.

Music, especially Bebop jazz, was a passion. He loved sharing stories about how he rode the ferry to Manhattan in the 1940s and paid 35 cents to see Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey and other jazz greats perform. Keith was as bad at dancing as he was good at sports and he couldn’t carry a tune, but that never stopped him from enjoying both anyway.

Keith was a veteran of the Korean War. He enlisted in Officer Candidate School in 1952 and served two years in the Army in Korea, receiving a combat medic badge. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

After the war, Keith received a master’s in business administration in finance from Columbia University, graduating in 1954. He studied with the father of security analysis, Benjamin Graham, who plucked him out of his graduating class to join the investment firm he founded with Jerome Newman, Graham Newman.

In a career that spanned over 50 years, Keith had the good fortune to work with some of Wall Street’s investing legends, including Warren Buffet at Graham Newman, Howard Friedman at General American Investors, and Kenneth Langone.

Shortly after returning from the Korean War, Keith met, fell in love with and married Martha “Marti” Stalnecker in 1956. His late aunt Lucy, who had been Marti’s high school Spanish teacher, arranged a blind date for the two to meet. They settled down in Morristown, N.J. where they raised their two daughters and a succession of beloved dogs, including bloodhounds and bull mastiffs.

Keith is survived by the love of his life, Marti Galli, of Falmouth; his two daughters, Lisa Galli, of Alameda, Calif. and Odette Thurston and son-in-law Scott Thurston, of Falmouth; a sister, Sandra Ferber and brother-in-law Michel Ferber of Accord, N.Y.; and an Old English Bulldog named Tank.

Keith was the most down to earth, unpretentious man who made friends wherever he went. He will be remembered most for his enduring sense of humor, which stayed with him until the end.

To share fond memories and offer condolences please visit http://www.jonesrichandbarnes.com.

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