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John C. OKeefe president
of the O'Keefe Brothers' Grocery Com-
pany, of Moberly, is one
of the progressive and enterprising business
men of Moberly and
Randolph County, He was born in Susquehanna
County, Pa., Aug. 7, 1859,
and is a son of William and Margaret
(O'Connel) OKeefe early
settlers of Randolph County who are now
deceased and further
mention of whom is made in connection with the
sketch of Arthur O'Keefe
in this volume.
John C. O'Keefe came to
Randolph County with his parents in 1862,
when he was about 3 years
of age. The family first settled in Renick
and here John C. O'Keefe
attended school during the winter terms and
worked in the stores of
Renick in summer The first school which he
attended was held in a
primitive log school house and he recalled Ben-
jamin Ashcomb as being a
first teacher, a pioneer teacher of Randolph
County who died a few
years ago and his widow now lives at Hunts..
ville
The O'Keefe family
moved to Moberly in 1872, where the father
engaged in railroad work.
Here Arthur O'Keefe engaged in retail gro-
cery business in 1879 and
was joined by John C. later, The business
at first was conducted as a
retail grocery, but later developed into a
wholesale grocery house.
John C. was secretary and treasurer of the
company for a time and
afterwards became president and has occupied
that Position to the present
time. The OKeefe Brothers Grocery Com-
pany does an extensive
business in this section of the state, their busi-
ness extending over eight
counties, north of the Missouri River, in which
they are represented by six
traveling salesmen. In 1919 their business
exceeded $800,000.
John C. O'Keefe was
married June 16, 1897, to Miss Margaret G.
Haggerty a daughter of
Frank and Mary (Cunningham) Haggerty of
Moberly. Frank Haggerty
was one of the early settlers of Moberly and
one of the pioneer
merchants of this city, He was born in Ireland in
1849 and came to America
about 1867, first locating at Memphis Tenn.
In 1872, he came to
Moberly and engaged in the grocery business He
was successful in
business, public spirited and had much to do with the
development and
upbuilding of Moberly. He built the Haggerty Opera
House which was the only
opera house in Moberly for many years, it is
now known as the Lyric
Hall, Mr. Haggerty was engaged in business
here until about 1910, and
in 1914 went to California and now resides
in Los Angeles His wife
died in 1883 and her remains were buried in
St. Mary's Cemetery
Moberiy.
To Mr. and Mrs. John C.
OKeefe have been born the following
children: Mary Margaret, a
student of Marymount College; John C.,
Jr., a student in
Georgetown University; Helen, a student in Loretta
College, St. Louis, Mo.;
Frank and Arthur, at home.
Mr. O'Keefe takes an
active interest in local progressive movement
for the improvement and
upbuilding of Moberly and was one of the
leading factors in the
organization of the Moberly Commercial Club,
which later developed into
the Chamber of Commerce. While he has
been interested and active
in local affairs of a public nature, he has per-
sistently refused to
become a candidate for city office of any kind, al-
though frequently urged to
do so, He is a member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of
Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the Country
Club, and the Chamber of
Commerce. |