I received an email this morning with the sad news of the passing of Keith Highfield.
Our shooting community is diminished with the passing of Keith.
Nice old bloke. RIP Keith
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The Voice of Australia's Benchrest Shooters
My name is Mark Highfield and I am Keith's son. Keith passed away in his
sleep on Saturday 8th January. Please accept my apologies if we have met
before and I have not been able to speak to you in person.
Keith's funeral service will be livestreamed and I encourage all of Keith's
friends to view the livestream and stay COVID safe, rather than attend in
person.
This is the funeral notice in the papers today:
HIGHFIELD, William Keith (“Keith”)
Aged 92 years
Passed away peacefully at Anglican Retirement Village, Castle Hill.
Devoted husband of Roma (deceased), loving father of Mark and Stephen
(deceased). Pa to Nicholas, Jackson, Christopher & Georgia. Beloved
brother, father-in-law and uncle.
Family & friends are invited to attend KEITH’s funeral service, to be held
at Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, North Chapel, 199 Delhi
Road, North Ryde on Monday 17 January 2022 at 2.15pm.
All are welcome to view the livestream of the funeral service. Please visit
the Albert & Meyer website (https://apac01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.al...) and go to Tributes/Keith
Highfield. Afterwards, all are encouraged to celebrate his life in a
COVID-safe way.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice.
ALBERT & MEYER
The simplest way to watch the livestream is to click on this link.
https://apac01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fview....
Alternative links to the livestream are in the email below.
Please forward this message to any of your friends that knew Keith. Please
feel comfortable with your decision to stay COVID safe and watch the
livestream. The family will understand if no friends attend in person.
Warm regards
Mark Highfield
BB Administrator
Keith was a former Sydney Branch Committee member, and his main task was the legal aspects of the Silverdale Road!
He was a National 4-Gun Champion.
In former years Keith was a marine surveyor with Lloyds of London.
He had strong views on all things benchrest and was not afraid to call out bullshit!
I used to stay in touch with Keith with a regular Christmas phone call, but this Christmas I got sidetracked and forgot, I regret that now.
RIP Keith.
Rob.
BB Administrator
Really sorry to hear that. Keith was an absolute gentleman. Certainly a long term benchrest shooter a always great to chat with at a match. RIP Keith
I met Keith at Silverdale and he was the one that encouraged me in to BR shooting. A lovely man, sad to hear of his passing. Rest in peace Keith.
I Met a Great Man Keith Many years ago on the Range - Keith Always Happy to give Advise .
Keith like Me Enjoyed World Motocycle GP Racing , When we met we would enjoy talking Moto GP's
All My Thoughts to Family of a Great Mam .RIP KEITH
I'm truly sorry to hear that Keith has passed away. I remember him from earlier nationals when CF and RF were combined. He was very encouraging to me and quite a gentleman. I also remember being fascinated by his wind indicators and took drawings of the flags. It's funny how you remember the little things and kind gestures.
RIP Keith
Maureen Edwards
Many wouldn’t know but Keith sat with me at my first ever match which was the last ever memorial at Silverdale when I was shooting my 223 hunting rifle .
He would brag me out between relays, sit down at the bench with me and tell to watch the flags .I will tell you what the right condition is to shoot on and not the stupid times you did .
He took me out to his car lifted the boot and showed his set of home made flags .
He said to me don’t bother getting the fancy ones until you know how to hit a bloody target properly.
Only time I ever met Keith but a memory I will always cherish.
I have a photo of that day with him sitting close bye making sure I did what I was told . Great bloke RIP
That was a shock as I had an email from Keith only a day or two before his passing.
Even after he retired from benchrest we kept in touch and exchanged opinions and views on many subjects.
Keith was an educated man who did not suffer fools - if you were wrong he let you know!
We did not agree on everything - it would be a boring world if everyone did.
I am saddened by his passing - another good man gone.
Rest easy old mate.
One of life’s true gentlemen. Keith was a great friend to both myself and Sue. He was always encouraging, and the knowledge he had tucked away was amazing. Keith Snr & Keith Jnr always had plenty to talk about and we looked forward to seeing him each Wednesday at Silverdale. He will be truly missed as we kept in touch on almost a weekly basis. RIP Keith-see you on the other side. Keith & Sue Dowel
Silver fox
Can't remember when I first met Keith but it was well before 1998 when he won his way onto the NSW Honour Board as a National 4 Gun winner.
His enthusiasm was infectious, always ready to take new shooters under his guiding wing as well as first in line when things needed doing on range. His engineering skills were on exhibition in the accessories and gadgets he made for equipment as diverse as stands, scopes, reloading tools, wind indicators etc. and willing to share.
Keith was not only a doer but an intelligent deep thinker no doubt a throw back to his executive and investigative abilities with Lloyds of London and fixing problems in keeping ships sailing whilst under pressure with repairs and maintenance and on the high seas.
His work on the legal aspects of the private though fare into Silverdale Range sorted many problems, provided solutions and highlighted potential pitfalls.
Keith was an absolute gentleman, who made his views known in a non confrontational constructive manner with the data to back it up but did not suffer fools gladly.
Always a pleasure to talk with him as I had the pleasure of doing many times over the years and not just about shooting.
He talked regularly about his family with affection and revelled in the regular visits with his grandchildren.
Condolences to his family.
Rest in peace after a life well lived
Ann & Tom Brummell