IN MEMORIAM The family wishes to thank the doctors and nurses at Davita


Hioaks Dialysis Clinic, Bon Secours Cancer Institute at St. Francis, caregivers from Care Advantage, and the staff of Ascend Hospice for their love and care of Ed during his long illness. We are also thankful to our dear family members, neighbors, church family, and friends for their prayers, help, and support during these past months.


Memorial gifts may be made to the following: The Doster-Via


Family Scholarship, Brightpoint Community College Foundation, 800 Charter Colony Parkway, Midlothian VA 23114; Central Baptist Church (see address above); Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA specifi- cally for student financial assistance in the Geology Department.


Keith August Diegel, SA-9007 Los Lunas, New Mexico


September 8, 1983 - May 5, 2025 Member Since 2017


Obituary written and photo provided by close friend and fellow geologist, Nicholas (Nico) Harrison (ECP-0839).


Keith passed away suddenly and unexpectedly


on May 5, 2025 Keith was born September 8, 1983, in Albuquerque, New Mexico


to Thea and August Diegel Jr., who preceded him in death. Keith spent his childhood in Stephentown, New York. His father's


work as a jeweler first introduced him to the wonders of geology, as he became fascinated by the hidden stories within each stone-an interest that would eventually become the driving force of his life.


Having completed his GED, Keith went to work in retail, becom- ing a night manager at Albertson's and an order filler at a Walmart Distribution Center.


His passion for rocks and minerals and keen natural intelligence


prompted his friends and family to observe that a man with his gifts and passions belonged on a university campus instead of a warehouse. Keith would later remark that it was when his stepsons stopped asking him for help with homework that he decided to go back to school. Thus, at the age of thirty, he set foot on a col- lege campus for the first time and enrolled at University of New Mexico-Valencia.


Pursuing his A.S. in mathematics, his decision to go back to


school was validated by the hard work and quick mind which led him to complete his associate's summa cum laude in 2016, having earned UNM V's Alberta Flores scholarship and a Phi Theta Kappa scholarship.


In 2017, Keith transferred to New Mexico Institute of Mining and


Technology, pursuing a B.S. in Earth Science. Over the next two- and-a-half years, he worked assiduously to pass his classes with high enough grades to retain the scholarships which sustained his academic career, while remaining a devoted husband and father who would take the bus between his home in Los Lunas and the Tech campus in Socorro, and who balanced his commitments to academia with those to his family.


Despite the age difference between him and most of his fellow


students, Keith's friendly, outgoing and compassionate nature, along with a sense of humor which made his hearty baritone laugh recognizable a mile away, enabled him to bond easily and form deep and lasting friendships with classmates not much older than


www.aipg.org Jan.Feb.Mar 2026 • TPG 59


his stepsons, and he had a large and varied group of friends which constantly seemed to grow.


It was at Tech that Keith was first introduced to AIPG, and in the


fall of 2017 he helped to found the Tech student chapter, serving as its vice president for two years and helping to bring in guest speakers and recruit new student members. Keith also served as vice president and treasurer of Tech 's student chapter of the Society of Economic Geologists.


Keith participated in research with several Earth and


Environmental Science faculty and NM Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources staff-during his time at Tech, on subjects includ- ing aqueous hydrogeochemistry, subsurface mapping and model- ing, speleogenesis, and critical minerals. He held jobs on campus including as an associate at the Bureau's Mineral Museum, a data assistant in the Bureau's Geologic Information Center, and a student GIS analyst. His hard work, intelligence, good humor and friendly attitude endeared him to his supervisors and coworkers.


Keith graduated with high honors in December 2019, on the Dean's list and as a Tech Scholar, along with receiving numerous other merit-based scholarships. He was intensely proud of being the first college graduate in his family.


He embarked on a M.S. in Mineral Engineering at Tech but left


the program in the fall of 2020 to take a job with Green Geophysics, installing and interpreting results from magnetotelluric equipment in remote field sites for a federally funded subsurface imaging proj- ect. He also obtained an M.S. in Geology through Ohio University's online program, completing it with a 3.34 GPA.


Mineral exploration was always Keith's biggest area of interest in


geoscience, as evidenced by his rock collection which his wife often pleaded with him to curtail the growth of, due to space limitations. It was truly the beginning of a career Keith had long dreamed of when he began work as an ore control geologist, first with America's Gold & Silver at the Relief Canyon Mine in Nevada, then for three years with Sibanye-Stillwater at their platinum workings in Montana.


At the time of his death, he had just started a position with The Doe Run Company in Viburnum, Missouri. Throughout his career, his family remained his top priority. He brought them with him when he moved between jobs, and when away on overnight work trips he would constantly talk about how much he missed his wife. When asked how work was going, Keith was fond of repeating the saying, "Love what you do, and you'll never work a day in your life."


In addition to his parents, Keith was preceded in death by his


grandparents and his uncle John Diegel. Keith is survived by his wife Kenya, (step)sons Nethaniel and Christopher Astorga, daughter Iliana Diegel, granddaughter Skylar and various family members. A Celebration of Life was held on September 13th at the Westside Family Chapel in Los Lunas, New Mexico. Contributions in his mem- ory may be made to the Geological Society of America Foundation.


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