Date of birth:

October 20th, 1908 (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Date of death:

April 10th, 1996 (New Orleans, Louisiana, USA)

Service number:

O-18025

Nationality:

American (1776 - present, Republic)

He was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 20, 1908. The son of Brigadier General Charles Keller and Frances Rosenfield. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1930 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant (ASN: O-18025) in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He resigned his commission in 1939 but remained in the army reserve until 1941. From 1939 to 1941 he worked for the New Orleans American Bank and Trust Company in Louisiana. In 1941 he was called back into active service to serve in World War II. In 1946 he returned to inactive status with the rank of Colonel.

He would later attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1933.

He married Rosa Freeman in 1932 and together they had two children.

Dates of rank
June 12, 1930: Second Lieutenant
August 31, 1935: First Lieutenant
May 18, 1939: First Lieutenant (reserve)
October 11, 1939: Captain (reserve)
May 4, 1942: Major
November 27, 1942: Lieutenant Colonel
August 14, 1944: Colonel
February 20, 1946: Colonel (reserve)

Assignments
September 12, 1930 - June 6, 1932: assistant to the District Engineer of New Orleans, Louisiana

June 6, 1933 - June 8, 1934: attended the United States Army Engineer School in Fort Humphreys, Virginia.

June 8, 1934 - December 15, 1934: 13th Engineer Battalion

December 15, 1934 - February 13, 1937: 11th Combat Engineer Regiment

February 13, 1937 - March 31, 1939: assistant to the District Engineer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

June 15, 1941 - December 31, 1942: assistant to the District Engineer of New Orleans, Louisiana

December 31, 1942 - July 15, 1943: Executive Officer to the District Engineer of Galveston, Texas

July 15, 1943 - March 15, 1944: Division Engineer, 71st Infantry Division and Commanding Officer of the 271st Engineer Combat Battalion

March 26, 1944 - February 28, 1945: Commanding Officer of the 1135th Engineer Combat Group

March 1945 - July 7, 1945: Engineer for VIII Corps

On June 19, 1946 he was reverted to inactive status.

After returning from the war he founded and served as president of Keller Construction Corp in New Orleans. He would later found and work with many volunteer and non-profit organizations and committees. During the 1960s he was appointed to the Kaiser Commission (President's Committee on Urban Housing) by President Lyndon Johnson.

Charles and his wife Rosa would become civil rights activists. In 1949 they established the Lincoln Foundation and would be instrumental in helping develop affordable housing for african americans in New Orleans, among other causes. They would later found the Keller Family Foundation.

He died on April 10, 1996 in New Orleans.

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• Photo: Charles Keller. Jr. (1963) - AGC of America - Centennial
  
• - MACDONALD, CHARLES B., United States Army in WWII - Europe - the Lorraine Campaign (Illustrated Edition), Lucknow Books, 2014.
  - REAGAN, BRUCE W. & DUFFY, JACK N., An Odyssey With Patton, Lulu Press, Inc., Morrisville, North Carolina, U.S., 2020.
  - Colonel Charles Keller Jr (US Army, retired).
  - Keller Family Foundation
  - Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802 : (Supplement, volume IX 1940-1950), page 632
  - Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802 : (Supplement, volume VIII 1930-1940), page 832
  - Charles Keller. Jr. (1963) - AGC of America - Centennial
  - United States Military Academy. Association of Graduates (Assembly, Volume 55, Issues 1-3)
  - A Decent Home (Report, United States. President's Committee on Urban Housing, 1969)
  - The United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces (Volume 46, 1909)
  - Army List and Directory (January 1, 1932, page 277)
  - COLLECTED LIVES (A BRIEF FAMILY HISTORY)
  - USMA Official register of the officers and cadets (1971)
  - Engineer Memoirs: Lieutenant General Walter K. Wilson, Jr., USA, Retired