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In 1977 the American Numis-matic Association received a

remarkable bequest from ANAmember Kenneth Keith (1910-77)of Jolly and Wichita Falls, Texas.A nephew of Ben Ellington Keithand an heir to the food and bever-age company that bears his un-cle’s name, Keith put into a trust14,650 shares of “Class A” Ben E.Keith Company stock to be di-vided among 13 individuals, theFirst United Methodist Church,Texas Technological Institute andthe ANA. The latter two organiza-tions are “residuary legatees” andultimately will receive 47.2 per-cent of the total shares. Explains ANA Treasurer LarryBaber, “After Kenneth Keith’sdeath in 1977, the stock receivedby the ANA was valued at severalhundred thousand dollars. Today,the 1,334 shares currently heldby the ANA are valued at$18.6 million. When the lastfour living relatives pass, theANA will receive an additional2,442 shares of stock.”

A Tragic TaleSadly, Keith’s largesse and result-ant ANA bequest can be traced toan attempted theft that went mur-derously wrong. The story beginsin the small Texas hamlet of Jolly,where Keith’s parents built a two-story ranch and a sizeable herd ofcattle around the turn of the 20thcentury. In later years, the ranch,located on open prairie along U.S.Highway 287, was occupied bybachelor brothers Kenneth andJames, who spent their timecollecting. Kenneth pursued silver-dollar-size Mexican coins,

while James specialized in modernand antique firearms. Kenneth became acquaintedwith professional numismatistRobert Medlar of Lubbock, Texas(who later served on the ANABoard of Governors, 1983-86).Medlar was complimentary ofKenneth’s collection, comment-ing that the specimens from colo-nial Mexico were museum quality.That observation led Kennethto donate his coins, then valuedat $50,000, to the American Numismatic Association Museumin 1971. In the April 1972 issue of TheNumismatist, ANA MuseumCurator Richard A. Long wrote,“This month I want to begin re-porting to you on the status of ourmuseum collections…As a mem-ber you have the right to knowwhat we have in our collections,and I’m sure that many of you will

want to help us fill in the holes.” Long continued, “Let’s beginwith Mexico, a collection I havebeen working on lately as we re-ceived a large Mexico donationfrom Kenneth Keith in late 1971.Our Mexico collection is strong inthe eight reales and pesos (crown-size coins), and in silver medals.The Kenneth Keith donation con-sisted almost entirely of pieces inthese two categories, and Mr.Keith is continually adding to thecollection. We need to add or im-prove many date mint combina-tions in the cap and rays eightreales series, but our overall typesets of large silver coins andmedals are coming along well.” Long followed with a “Reportof the Museum Curator” in theOctober 1972 issue, stating, “Thevalue of donations this year wassome $150,000, most of which isnumismatic material that has

BENEFACTOR PROFILE

Kenneth Keith & the Ben E. Keith CompanyA dreadful crime led to a fortuitous bequest and a longtime partnership.

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▲ This Mexican 1536-38 3 reales, struck during the reign of Spain’s Charles Iand Johanna, was among the silver coins donated to the ANA Museum byKenneth Keith in the early 1970s. The Spanish Royal Edict of 1536 author-ized the striking of the 3 reales as part of the first series of coins to bemade at the new mint in Mexico City. The denomination was produced only from 1536 through 1538 and the coins are very rare. The three dots between the obverse columns represent the denomination. Not Actual Size

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been retained in our collections.Kenneth Keith, our most gener-ous donor, gave some $50,000in scarce coins and medals ashe continued to build ourMexico collection.” A copy of The Numismatist de-scribing the Keith donation foundits way into the hands of WichitaFalls resident James F. LeBus,who was involved in a burglarlyring. Allegedly, he informed one offive men that Kenneth Keith was acoin collector. On Saturday, July12, 1975, those five men—ClydeBurn, Earl Culwell, William Pin-son, Lonnie Dale Loyd and AltonFanchier Jr.—met at the latter’srented home on Fillmore Street inWichita Falls, where they plottedto rob the Keiths’ home in Jolly. Former ANA Editor, ExecutiveVice President and later PresidentEdward C. Rochette described thecrime in his monthly “Other Sideof the Coin” column in the No-vember and December 1987 issuesof The Numismatist:

Loyd and Pinson left Fanchier’shouse and headed southeast onHighway 287. Parking theirpickup truck some distancefrom the Keiths’ stone house,the pair hiked the remainingway. Pinson was armed with a12-gauge shotgun, Loyd carrieda .25-caliber pistol. Pinson hungback, covering Loyd as he forcedentry through a screen door. “I put my elbow through thescreen and ripped it down,”Loyd later told a jury. “I wasstepping through and tellingMr. [James] Keith to lay down,everything was going to be okay. “He yelled and started run-ning toward the door…I was justpulling my leg through the doorand heard the shotgun go off. Isaw the barrel of the gun,” Loydcontinued matter-of-factly,“and Pinson was holding it.” James Keith lay dead. Loydadded that Kenneth Keith camerunning down the hall at thesound of the commotion, butwas stopped, beaten and takento his bedroom, where he was

bound with tape. A systematicsearch of the house failed to uncover the coin collection—it had already been given to the ANA. On discovery of a wall safe, the three remainingmembers of the gang were sum-moned and told to bring tools. The burglars stumbled uponJames Keith’s gun collection,taking it with them when they finally quit the propertyhours later.

The ANA Board of Governorsoffered a $5,000 reward for infor-mation leading to the arrest andconviction of the persons respon-sible for the murder of JamesKeith. The Texas Rangers widelypublicized the reward, and in October 1975 one member of thegang, Earl Culwell, implicatedWilliam Pinson as the killer in exchange for immunity and the$5,000. The ANA agreed to payhalf that amount for Culwell’s testimony, with the rest to comefollowing Pinson’s convictionand imprisonment. Continuing with his narrative,Rochette wrote,

Among those arrested wasClyde Burns. On the night thathe arrived at the Clay Countyjail for the subsequent trial, theKeith home was fire-bombed.Suspicion immediately fell onBurns’ fellow gang members,who, it was believed, wished toprevent Kenneth from identify-ing the culprits. What they didnot know was that the authori-ties, realizing that only Ken-neth Keith could identify hisbrother’s killers, had moved himto an apartment in WichitaFalls. The historic ranch home,built by Kenneth’s father, wascompletely destroyed, as wasKenneth’s spirit.

According to Rochette’s report,the second chapter of the storybegan a few years later at theANA’s Colorado Springs head-quarters. “The trial in 1977 hadcaused…67-year-old Kenneth

Keith to relive the horrors of thebreak-in—the murder of hisbrother, the beating, and the fire-bombing of the family homein an attempt to keep him fromtestifying. He died soon after thetrial ended.” On the run since he testified for the prosecution, Culwell wasdesperate for the rest of his reward and began telephoningthe ANA daily. Pinson’s appealshad delayed his eventual convic-tion and sentencing, and thuspostponed Culwell’s final payout. At 7 a.m. on May 29, 1980,Ed Rochette, then executive vicepresident, arrived at the ANA tofind Culwell sitting on the frontsteps of the building. He de-manded that Rochette immedi-ately hand over the money duehim. “I stalled,” said Rochette. “Iwas not about to go into the build-ing alone with Culwell. We talked.I gave him a few dollars for break-fast and asked him to return a lit-tle later. In the meantime, I wouldcheck with Texas authorities forconfirmation of Pinson’s status.” Rochette called William G.Paul, district attorney for Mon-tague, Archer and Clay Counties,who verified that Pinson had been

▲ The two sides of Kenneth Keith: hardworkingrancher (left) and genteel numismatist.

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convicted and soon would beginserving his life sentence in Leaven-worth, Kansas. The ANA pre-pared a check for Culwell, but theinformant wanted cash. Rochettearranged for Culwell to redeem thecheck at the Colorado Springs Na-tional Bank. In April 1980, Pinson was re-leased from Leavenworth forhealth reasons (he reportedly hadfaked a heart attack) and fled toNew Mexico. Officers there ar-rested him on unrelated charges,and he was sent to prison inHuntsville, Alabama, where hedied three years later.

The Keith LegacyIn 1996, acting on advice fromprofessional financial consultants,the ANA Board of Governorsvoted to sell and reinvest 30 per-cent of the Association’s holdingsof Ben E. Keith stock, whichamounted to 732 shares ($1.1 mil-lion). The decision was made tolower the risk of over-investing ina single, non-liquid stock. The

reinvestment was overseen byLarry Baber, then chairman of theANA’s Finance and InvestmentCommittee; ANA member DenisLoring, then senior vice presidentof The Equitable Life AssuranceSociety; and ANA member Stan-ley Merves, then principal ofMerves & Company, CPAs. Today, the Ben E. Keith Com-pany is listed as one of the 70largest, privately held businesses in the United States, and one ofthe world’s major distributors ofAnheuser-Busch products. Partof the firm’s mission is to serveits customers and the areas inwhich they operate. Keith em-ployees actively volunteer theirtime and resources to help a num-ber of national and local organi-zations and assist in their workof building strong and vibrantcommunities. The company’spartnerships include the Ameri-can Heart Association, AmericanCancer Association, March ofDimes, Habitat for Humanity,and local food banks, shelters and

schools/universities. According tothe company’s website, the firmbelieves its “actions must alwaysbe rooted in honesty and integ -rity; and we should always fostertrust, faith in others, fairness,and respect. Celebrating and em-bracing insights and experiencesthrough people’s diverse back-grounds, abilities, and contribu-tions reinforce our ability to cre-ate next-generation leaders.” When Kenneth Keith includedthe American Numismatic Associ-ation in his will, he hoped thehobby organization he loved wouldbenefit for years to come, and in-deed it has. The ANA is veryproud of and grateful for its con-tinuing relationship with the BenE. Keith Company. ANA Treasurer Baber adds,“We are fortunate that the BenE. Keith Company family of em-ployees has been a good stewardof the company over these manyyears. The firm’s sound businesspractices have supported theAssociation greatly.”

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