White House Historical Association

Matthew Keel Jr.

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"Matthew Keel Jr.," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whitehouseworkers.org/Detail/workers/1227.
Position
Carpenter
Years in President's House
1972 – 1997
Gender
Male
Presidencies
Richard M. Nixon
Gerald R. Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Biography

Matthew Keel Jr. was born on September 10, 1936, in Martin County, North Carolina.1 

He later relocated to Maryland, and by 1972, he had joined the White House Carpenter Shop staff.2 From their workspace in the basement of the White House, carpenters construct furniture, stages, display cases, and other items for use onsite, and take on other tasks as needed including laying tile, installing windows and doors, repairing floors and locks, and more.3 

Keel spent twenty-five years on staff, retiring from the White House in 1997.4 Matthew Keel Jr. died on April 30, 2012, and was buried at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland.5

  1. “Birthdays,” Undated, folder: folder “Birthdays (Residence Staff),” box 29, Betty Ford White House Papers, Gerald R. Ford Library, https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/sites/default/files/pdf_documents/library/document/0018/81556614.pdf; “Matthew N. Keel Jr.,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/233943574/mathew-n-keel.
  2. Untitled Staff List, December 1972, Collection: White House Usher’s Office; Series: Rex Scouten’s Subject File; Folder: Residence Employees; Container 5, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.
  3. “Carpenter Foreman,” Undated, Folder: Personnel (Residence) – [Position Descriptions],  Office of the Executive Residence: Usher’s Office: Records, 1981-1989, Ronald Reagan Library.
  4. White House Office of the Curator, e-mail message to author, March 16, 2026; “Matthew Keel Jr. Obituary,” Stewart Funeral Home, https://www.stewartfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Matthew-Keel-Jr?obId=2452741.
  5. “Matthew Keel Jr.,” Washington Post, May 9, 2012, pg. B6. 
Birthplace
Martin County, North Carolina, USA
Burial Place
Fort Lincoln Cemetery
Blue markers indicate birthplaces and green markers indicate burial places. Black markers are used for places of both birth and burial.