Necrology

Keith Mostofi '65

Jun. 1, 1944-Jun. 26, 2022

Keith Mostofi ’65 died on June 26, 2022, in Chambersburg, Pa. Born in Boston on June 1, 1944, he grew up in Chevy Chase, Md., and came to Hamilton from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. On the Hill, he majored in history. On one memorable occasion, he traveled with some other students to Elmira College, where one of the Hamilton students had already arranged a date with an Elmira student. Keith and the others were hoping to meet women on site, and Keith, at least, lucked out. He met Christine Munger, and the two were married on Aug. 12, 1967, in her hometown of Carthage, N.Y.

After graduating, Keith returned to the Washington area for graduate study at American University, completing his master’s degree in 1966. Thereafter, he and Christine moved to Portsmouth, Va., where he had accepted a position in the History Department of Tidewater College. In 1968, he began doctoral study in military history at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. There, Keith was awarded a Governor’s Fellowship in 1971 to study military fortress systems in Munich, Germany.

In 1975, Keith studied to become a supply system analyst through a training program sponsored by the U.S. Army and held at the Red River Army Depot, near Texarkana, Texas. In 1976, he graduated first in his class and was rewarded by being given his choice of assignments as a civilian employee. He chose Letterkenny Army Depot near Chambersburg in Eastern Pennsylvania in part because it offered the highest salary. Concurrently, Christine taught school in Chambersburg, and the town became the Mostofi’s permanent home, even though his subsequent assignments took them to various locations in Europe and Washington. While at Letterkenny, Keith held various positions and was honored for meritorious service more than once.

In the fall of 1989, he was posted to Heidelberg, Germany, for what turned out to be six years and subsequently was sent to Hovalt, Luxembourg, in 1995 for another year with the U.S. Army in Europe. After returning to Pennsylvania in 1996, Keith was transferred to the Pentagon in 1998 to work in logistics for the Department of the Army until he retired in 2010.

Keith then immersed himself in a variety of activities, one of which was model railroading, a lifelong interest that he mentioned even in his admission application to Hamilton. Not only did he work on his own layout, but he became an active member of the Cumberland Valley Model Railroad Club. He enjoyed teaching both children and adults about trains at the club’s Chambersburg headquarters, which had an extensive layout and multiple trains running simultaneously. Keith was a voracious reader, principally of history, another habit dating from his youth. He also was a woodworker who built tables and bookshelves, frequently out of mahogany, his favorite wood. He also delved into his own family’s ancestry. For his two grandchildren, he was the resident expert on almost every subject.

Keith Mostofi ’65 was survived by his wife, who died in November 2023, his son, daughter-in law, and two grandchildren.

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