David Vernon Keyes

DAVID VERNON KEYES Nov. 18, 1946 - Nov. 4, 2014 David died of cancer at his Fairfax, VA, home, surrounded by people who loved him. His professional life included 27 years with the FBI and a subsequent career in cyber security. In private life, he loved science fiction, root beer floats, and above all, his family. The son of Vernon H. and Mildred W. Keyes, David was raised in Salt Lake City. While attending the University of Utah, he met Janet Crystal, his beloved wife of 42 years. David’s FBI career spanned bureaus in Omaha, Chicago, San Diego and Washington, D.C. Though specifics of his work were confidential, his family knew that at various points it encompassed SWAT teams, counterespionage, and the investigation of white-collar crime, hate crime, and terrorism. They also knew that while he vigorously pursued law-breakers, he sometimes went out of his way to help innocent members of their families. When he connected one suspect’s wife with a church-based assistance group, the tearful suspect called him “the nicest man who ever arrested me.” David later served as legal attaché at the American Embassy in Bonn, where fluent German learned years earlier on a Mormon mission served him well. His first investigation there, pursued in cooperation with high-level German officials, was the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The family was living in Bonn when the Berlin Wall fell, and David’s children vividly recall the sense of history as their parents drove to the newly free Berlin. For the first time, they dared to wave at Russian border guards who would have stopped them months earlier, but who on this day smiled and waved back. As the FBI’s liaison with law enforcement agencies of former Cold War adversaries, David was instrumental in establishing a joint police training academy. Returning to Washington, he was an early advocate for increased attention to cyber security issues. He served during the Clinton administration on the President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection and chaired the Federal Infrastructure Protection Task Force. He also was inspector-in-charge of the FBI’s Office of Computer Investigations. After retiring from the FBI, he worked for several companies in the Washington area, remaining active as a speaker and trainer on cyber security issues. At the time of his death, he was chief operating officer of Policy Analytical and Security Services Inc. An unassuming man, he combined keen intelligence and dry humor. He was a lifelong stalwart in his church, serving in numerous leadership positions and always exemplifying its message of faith and kindness. Respected by his colleagues, cherished by his family, devoted to his loved ones, his country and his God, David lived a life of purpose and achievement. The lives of all he touched are better for it. Besides his wife Janet, survivors are his son Jeffrey, of Fairfax; daughters Whitney (Mark Austin), of Alexandria; Jennifer (Randy Michaux), of Leesburg; and Kristy (Charlie Wolford), of Centreville; his sisters Sharon (Bill Matthews), of Lovettsville; Susan (Jim Sulat), and Saundra, of San Francisco; 10 grandchildren, and 8 nephews and nieces. Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 15 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2719 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton, Va. Burial will be in Flint Hill Cemetery. Donations in David’s memory can be made to the Wounded Warrior Cyber Combat Academy (www.w2cca.org), a nonprofit whose founder describes David as catalyst for the idea of training wounded military members for cyber security careers.

David Vernon Keyes

November 18, 1946 - November 4, 2014