Described as hilarious and as a deep thinker by his loved ones, Keith “Keo” Anthony Neshyba Jr. either had his friends and family clutching their sides in laughter or pondering the meaning of life.
A second-generation Aggie and a Fish Camp counselor, Keo Neshyba enjoyed playing sports, fishing and spending time with his loved ones. Keo Neshyba’s friends said he especially looked up to his older sister, Amy Neshyba, Class of 2014.
Samantha Stiles, his Fish Camp partner, said family was important to Keo Neshyba and he strove to be like his sister, one of many Aggies in his family.
“Keo was really, really close to his sister, Amy,” Stiles said. “She was his role model and he really looked up to her.”
Amy Neshyba said her brother was very athletic. She said Keo Neshyba excelled at cross country and always had a competitive spirit.
“I vividly remember spending hours together in the summer playing Mario Kart and Pokémon, Monopoly, and whenever one of us won, the other absolutely insisted on a rematch or one more game,” Amy Neshyba said. “He always had a way of making everything more fun and was the best playmate I could’ve asked for.”
Katheryn Fernandez, Class of 2015 and friend of Keo Neshyba, said he was very intellectual and had the most genuine soul.
“When he chimed in with one of his comments or something it sent us all on this laughing rampage,” Fernandez said. “Or he’d say something that just had us all sitting there like, ‘Well maybe he’s right,’ and just had us all thinking about life after that.”
Keo Neshyba’s girlfriend Lindsay Laird said he was the wittiest person she ever met and had a sharp sense of humor.
“On more than one occasion, he made me cry from laughing so hard,” Laird said. “Keo had one of the biggest hearts. I’ve never felt more loved or understood than when I was with him, and he taught me a great deal about what unconditional love is.”
Keo Neshyba’s friend Matt Smith, construction science junior, said he was hilarious.
“He had a sense of humor that no one else really had and it was more of a dry sense of humor,” Smith said. “You weren’t around him and not laughing, not joking about something.”
However, his personality was much deeper than simply humor, said Chris Fox, a close friend of Keo Neshyba’s and his roommate for two years.
“He could get deep when you needed someone to talk to, when you needed someone to be there,” Fox said. “He knew when to joke and when not to joke.”
Amy Neshyaba said Keo Neshyba was a passionate person who put his entire heart into everything he did.
“He dearly loved his family and friends, and would do anything for them,” Amy Neshyba said. “He will be loved and missed by us all, but never forgotten. He was truly one of a kind. I hope people always remember how smart, hardworking, caring, and funny he was. He had the gift of making people laugh and was a joy to be around.”
