Joseph Edward Keating

Joe Keating, an innovative and inspirational activist who helped transform Oregon’s political landscape, passed away peacefully at his Portland home on August 4, 2024, at the age of 81. 

Joe was born in New York City on June 6, 1943, the youngest of Margaret Sullivan (Peggy) and Dr. John Keating's four sons. His grandparents, Patrick and Marie Keating and Katie and Michael Sullivan all emigrated from Ireland, making Joe a second generation Irish-American. He was always very proud of being Irish. He grew up in Greenwich Village in an apartment near the fabled Washington Square at its height as a center of alternative culture, playing handball and listening to the poets and folk musicians who would gather there. Joe graduated from Francis Xavier High School (class of 1960) and Georgetown University (class of 1964). After college, he served as a Captain in the Army during the Vietnam War where he risked his commission to discharge hundreds of GIs suffering from PTSD.

A man of many talents and interests, Joe worked in finance, business, and construction

before a mid-life epiphany on a sojourn to New Zealand led him to devote his life to peace and environmental protection.  He moved to Portland in the 1980s and, as the operations director and action coordinator of the local Greenpeace office, led cadres of young activists in non-violent and constructive civil disobedience and encouraged a multitude of grassroots movements to protect endangered species and the global commons.  He was a leader in Portland’s anti-war movement that formed by necessity during the first Bush administration and he, along with Blair Bobier, Deborah Howes, and Julia Ingram, launched the Pacific Green Party of Oregon around that time. In 2006, Joe ran for Governor of Oregon on the Pacific Green Party ticket, working on issues of environmental justice, the decriminalization of marijuana, and grassroots democratization. 

Joe co-founded the United Community Action Network (UCAN) with the late Tom O’Keefe and together they launched America’s first bike-sharing program, Portland’s groundbreaking Yellow Bike Project, which garnered much national attention. He was also a founding member of Citizens for Peace and a Rational Energy Policy, the Portland Harbor Community Action Advisory Group, and Witness against Lawless Logging (WALL). He served as the director of the Oregon Wildlife Federation and the chair of the Oregon Sierra Club. In these roles and others, Joe inspired and organized thousands of people over the course of many years in service of environmental justice. He was honored to be an invited international guest on the inaugural Intertribal Canoe Journey in 1989 (Paddle to Seattle). His fearlessness and commitment to the environment and to peace was evident in events from tree sit-ins to direct action against a US navy battleship. 

After turning 80, Joe considered himself to be on the “overtime” clock. He made the most of his 14 months of overtime, in particular by immersing himself in thinking and activism related to the question of how to collectively navigate the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on human evolvement. As part of this project, Joe coined the word “convivitas” meaning coexistence in harmony and community. Joe believed that it is crucially important that we work together to build our current stage of evolution on a strong foundation of ethical convivitas instead of on principles of greed and power. He used convivitas as a greeting, as a salutation and as a toast, and was thrilled to see it begin to grow into more common usage. Joe documented his thoughts on AI and evolution in “The Convivitas Chronicles.” Ever the activist, we are sure his spirit would love it if you read it (and even more if you shared your thoughts and comments!) 

As his many friends know, Joe loved a good time. He loved Oregon and he lived it to its fullest whether he was hiking, camping, skiing, or paddling. He expressed his creativity in modern dance at academic performances at Portland State University and in considerably less formal fashion at the Oregon Country Fair, where he served on the internal security crew so joyfully for so long (and where, in true proper amount of disrespect form, his security team name was “Breach”). His many achievements notwithstanding, his greatest contribution to Oregon and this world may well be the community he ushered into existence with his easy-going disposition coupled with an organizer's mindset and the mischievous spirit of a leprechaun.  

Joe is survived by his loving partner, Cathy; his children Cricket, Peter and Ted; his grandchildren Natalie, Maddie, Sarah, Olivia, Christopher, and Gabriel: his stepson Peter Finfrock, his godchildren Kathleen and Jacqueline Cahill; and his community that will forever hold him in their hearts.

Joe's friends and family are planning a celebration of his life to honor this one-of-a-kind person; details to follow.