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Father Keon Named Finalist in Incredible Priest Contest
7/13/2010
 If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Father James Keon, CSB, just venture into the University of St. Thomas Crooker Student Center Cafeteria during lunch on almost any week day.
Chances are, he will be there eating lunch, telling stories and laughing with students. And now, he just might start signing autographs.
Fr. Keon, a retired UST philosophy professor, is among 20 priests nationwide to be named as finalists in the Catholic Company’s Incredible Priests, Incredible Stories essay/video contest. A video tribute to Fr. Keon is featured on the contest website. The UST campus community has until July 15 to vote for Fr. Keon to win the grand prize, an eight-day trip to Rome.
The Incredible Priests, Incredible Stories Contest is being held in honor of the Papal Designation of The Year for Priests, 2009-2010. Scores are split evenly between Catholic Company judging, “celebrity judging” and the public vote.
The video was created by Cimela Kidonakis, a 2009 UST graduate, who currently owns and operates the video production company Optix Studios. Kidonakis worked with Darnell Miller, a 2010 UST graduate who was interning at Optix Studios.
Kidonakis said she and Miller wanted to make a video to chronicle the impact Fr. Keon has made on students and honor him on his 85th birthday, which he celebrated on May 18. A 20-minute video was shown at the end of the year and sent to honor Fr. Keon. Kidonakis said she found out about Incredible Priests, Incredible Stories just days before the contest deadline, so she edited the original video to the required three minutes.
“Everyone loves Fr. Keon, and almost everyone has a unique Fr. Keon story,” Kidonakis said. “He has a close relationship with so many students because he takes the time to eat lunch, and get to know the students.”
Kidonakis said she frequently encounters people who are reluctant to get on camera, but this project had no lack of willing participants.
“I put a notice out on facebook asking if anyone wanted to talk on camera about Fr. Keon, and in one day, I had about 20 responses.”
A fixture on the faculty and favorite among students since 1965, Fr. Keon is beloved for his witty sense of humor, remarkable ability to recall students’ names and imaginative stories. He officially retired in 1997, but continued teaching philosophy part time until 2002. He continues to live in the Basilian residence on campus. Father Keon Days, an event which encourages students and faculty and staff to dine together, are held on the first Wednesday of every month.
“Fr. Vincent Guinan, the University’s founding president, loved for the priests to interact with the students,” Fr. Keon said. “In the early days the priests had both breakfast and lunch with the students, and I wanted to bring that back. I am pretty good with names, so it’s fun to walk into the cafeteria and make the rounds.”
Fr. Keon commended Kidonakis and Miller on job well done, adding that the video was especially meaningful to his family in Toronto. Always the kidder, Fr. Keon said he “felt like Cary Grant,” in the video, and he is “getting several calls from Hollywood.”
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