Roll of Honor
Biography
Sergeant John Keel was a devoted father, husband, brother, and friend. He began his career in public service working as a firefighter at Leland Fire Department. This is where he found his true calling of helping others, protecting society, and making communities safer. Once he completed the Basic Law Enforcement Training program, he secured a job as a Leland Police Officer where he heroically and proudly served for 16 years until his retirement in 2016. Sergeant Keel had a large family and many friends. During his free time, he enjoyed cooking and hosting cook-outs as often as possible. He was an outstanding home improvement “go-to” guy who put his heart and soul into his projects, especially ones to make his next cook-out even better. He was also an active member of Apostolic Tabernacle Church. As a father and a father figure to all, John could be stern when necessary, but had one of the softest hearts known to man-kind and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NC-0C1E5329- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
Officer John Keel served with the Leland Police Department.
Thank you for your service. We will always remember your sacrifice.
You belong on this wall. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
John Keel is one of 256 officers honored for deaths connected to the weight of the job across the full record of this memorial — 0.8% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NC, 4 of 664 officers were honored for deaths connected to the weight of the job — 0.6% of this state's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Suicide compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Keel's cause is highlighted.
How John Keel Compares
When Suicide Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Suicide deaths across the full memorial record. John Keel is highlighted in Jan.