The memorial – built on a rock including a picture of him with his name, date of birth, and the date he died – was unveiled on Aug. 21 during a ceremony held as part of this year’s Benton Day Festival. It is now on display permanently at Llewellyn Keats Memorial Park, formerly known as Sparkins Landing.
Llewellyn was only eight years old on July 23, 1979, when he drowned while playing with his cousins in Soulis Pond. The son of Suley and Alice Keats, he was supposedly attempting to keep his younger brother Kenneth from going underwater after their boat swamped.
Llewellyn was also epileptic, though it is unknown whether he suffered a seizure while in the water.
Nathan Osmond, Llewellyn’s uncle, noticed the commotion in the water, which led to the rescue effort. The other two boys were saved, but Llewellyn was missing. He was eventually found in the pond, and efforts to revive him through CPR proved too late.
“When somebody dies, young or old, in a community of 200 people, everybody gets affected by it ...” - – Kevin Keats
Local service district committee chair Kevin Keats was seven at the time of Llewellyn’s death.
“When somebody dies, young or old, in a community of 200 people, everybody gets affected by it – whether it’s your neighbour or your enemy. So, you can imagine what it was like here when a young child died.”
The idea for erecting a memorial came about through the community’s efforts to make improvements to the town.
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