Retired Kane Auditor Bill Keck dies at 84

SUGAR GROVE – William “Bill” Keck, who served as Kane County Auditor for 20 years, died Dec. 12. He was 84, according to his obituary notice at The Healy Chapel in Sugar Grove.

A Sugar Grove resident and lifelong Republican, Keck was a five-term auditor from 1992 to 2012, when he decided not to seek reelection.

“He was great to know and a good example for public service,” Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham said. “He did his job. He did it well and had the respect of all of us. He was a great public servant and a joy to work with. … He was a gentle, compassionate person, too.”

Keck briefly came out of retirement in 2013 to announce a run for the Illinois 50th House District after then State Rep. Kay Hatcher did not seek reelection.

At the time, he called himself “a voice for fiscal responsibility.”

“I understand county operations,” Keck said at the time. “I’d have to translate that to state operations. I am concerned that we have crisis problems. I am one person, but if I can make a difference, I’d like to try.”

Keck was in a field of four GOP hopefuls in the 2014 primary, which was won by Keith Wheeler.

Keck also served on the Kane County Farm Bureau Board with County Board member Michael Kenyon, R-South Elgin.

“Bill Keck was a kind, nice man,” Kenyon said. “He didn’t cause harm to anybody. He just did his job, didn’t bother anybody else and he was on the Farm Bureau Board. We appreciated his knowledge of numbers. … I would say he did not have a mean bone in his body.”

Kenyon, the only farmer serving on the board, said Keck was not a farmer, but had inherited a little acreage with his sister.

Keck was a parishioner at St. Gall in Elburn and a member of Knights Columbus, the church’s finance committee and a lector, according to his obituary notice.