Keith Daniel Montambo

February 4, 1985 - November 13, 2004

                        On November 13, 2004, I lost my 19 year old

             son to a drug overdose. My husband and I were

             unaware of Keith's drug use which, apparently, had

             been going on for about two years.  Keith was the

             "boy next door" from a good, solid family.  We always

              talked to our children about the dangers of drugs.

              We did a lot of things with our children, like coaching

              their baseball/softball teams, camping, etc.  When Keith

             was about 16, he started to change, nothing drastic, but

             subtle.  When talking to Keith, he told us he wasn't using

             and we believed him.  Why shouldn't we?  We had taught

             our children to be truthful.  They were brought up in church.

                  We had gone through about three years of discipline

             problems with Keith, but we had attributed them to the

             "teen" years.  Looking back, we see many of the

             34 warning signs.  You may also think that it might

             just be a teen thing with your child (we were told that

             by a professional once), but are you willing to risk your

             child's life on that idea.  If you have a "gut feeling" that

             something just isn't right, check it out. 

             I wish we had.

             Pamela Montambo

            Postscript:  The same week that my family buried Keith, our daughter and

            son-in-law found out that they were going to have a baby.  They said that Keith

            knew they were trying and couldn't wait to be an uncle.  On August 15, 2007

            Keith became an uncle for the second time.  I have to believe that Keith would

            have made a wonderful uncle to Kaylis Danielle and Damien Tage.  We will

            never let them forget about Uncle Keith.