Major General (Ret.) Frederick Rulfs Keith, Jr.

July 1, 1935 – May 13, 2025

Surrounded by family, Frederick (Fred) Rulfs Keith, Jr., 89, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at his daughter’s home in Asheboro, NC, following an extended battle with leukemia.  

Born on July 1, 1935, in Fayetteville, NC, to Frederick Rulfs Keith, Sr. and Annie Grace Butler Keith, he was the oldest of three children. 

Raised in St. Pauls, NC, Fred was his high school valedictorian and also earned the Boy Scout rank of Eagle Scout. In 1957 and 1958, he received Bachelor Degrees in Industrial Management and Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA, and a Master of Business Administration Degree from George Washington University in 1970.  He obtained his Professional Engineering licenses in Georgia and North Carolina in the field of Electrical Engineering.  

As a retired Major General in the United States Air Force, he was a distinguished graduate of the Communications Officer Course and the Air War College.

In 1957, while at Georgia Tech, Fred met his future wife, Judith Ann Troy, at a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity party. Although she lived in Atlanta, she attended college in Virginia and used a friend’s amateur (ham) radio to keep in touch through “modern” technology. After marrying in 1959, they moved to La Plata, MD, where he worked at the Naval Propellant Plant in Indian Head, MD, as Program Manager of Naval Air solid rocket fuel production. In 1966, after children Dorothy and Joe were born, he moved the family to Atlanta where he became the General Manager, and in 1975, the owner and President of Acme Bonded Warehouse Corporation, which grew from one 42,500-square-foot refrigerated building in Atlanta storing mostly confectionary products to over 7.5 million square feet of award-winning diverse warehouse storage with 16 facilities in 6 states under the current name Atlanta Bonded Warehouse Corporation. 

Fred and local engineers developed and designed light-reflective post-tension floors, shrinkage-compensating concrete paving, and special accommodations to increase safety and efficiency in warehouses that he built for the company, several of which resulted in awards from the American Concrete Institute. In 1969, he founded Colonial Cartage Corporation (refrigerated trucking), initially servicing the Atlanta area with one truck. Today, CCC consistently receives safety awards and has 65 tractors and 200 trailers servicing the southeastern United States. Fred’s son, Joe, currently owns both nationally-recognized companies.  

In 1957, Fred joined the 116th Tactical Fighter Wing, Georgia Air National Guard, Dobbins Air Force Base, GA, and later that year transferred to the 263rd Combat Communications Squadron, North Carolina Air National Guard, Badin, NC. He was commissioned in 1958 and assumed command of the squadron in 1976. During his 10 years as Commander, the unit significantly increased its participation in active-duty joint exercises and became a full-fledged total force unit. In 1991, he was assigned as the Air National Guard Assistant to the USAF Deputy Chief of Staff, Command, Control, Communications, and Computers and was the liaison between the respective communications units and functions of the Air National Guard and the Air Force. 

He was often noted as being an outstanding Commander, mentor and leader who was directly responsible for ensuring that many of his officers and enlisted personnel achieved professional and personal success. His military decorations and awards include among others the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon. After 35 years of service, he retired from the NCANG in 1992 with the rank of Major General and transferred to and completed his service in the Air Force Reserve in 1995.  

Fred’s love of radio was apparent throughout his life beginning with radio clubs in high school and college. He held a Federal Communications Commission first class radio-telephone license and was an amateur (ham) radio operator. In 1962, seeing the need to quickly notify the residents of Randolph County, NC, of a national crisis, he applied for an FCC license to build a radio station in the center of the state in Asheboro. In 1971, the license was approved and he designed, built and co-owned WZOO (AM) and eventually two FM translators in Asheboro and Greensboro. Until recently, Fred owned WKXR, also in Asheboro. Fred’s daughter, Dorothy, currently owns both award-winning stations. Fred previously built and owned WYRU in Red Springs, NC.  

Fred also had other business interests in southeastern North Carolina (real estate, timber and farms) and in Tennessee (warehousing). He was a specialist on the subject of metrication, made a presentation to the US National Metric Study Conference and wrote articles on the subject. In Georgia, he was a founding member and treasurer of the North Cobb Rotary Club, was a member of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce since 1987, and was a member of the Kennesaw Business Association. At the time of his death, he served on the Board of the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw. He was a member of the Armed Forces Communications-Electronics Association, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Clan Keith Society, and was a Kentucky Colonel. He was also a member of the International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA), the Southeastern Warehouse Association (SWA), the Georgia Motor Trucking Association (GMTA), the Council of Logistics Management (CLM) and the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC), among others. 

Fred was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Asheboro and was previously a member of the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta.

In his “free” time, Fred enjoyed spending time with his three grandchildren and vacationing at White Lake, NC, in the renovated cottage that he helped his father build in the mid-1940s. He also enjoyed anything genealogy-related, including trips to Germany and Scotland, and studying military history, Viking River Cruises, Ted’s Montana Grill (bison!), warm/humid weather, golf, red wine, music (specifically ABBA, Emmylou Harris and Andre Rieu), and British shows (especially Father Brown and As Time Goes By). 

Fred was a deeply beloved husband, father and grandfather (Papa), brother, uncle and friend. He was a quiet leader … a mentor to many and a friend to all.  

Fred is survived by his wife of 65 years, Judy; his two children, Dorothy Grace Keith of Asheboro, NC, and Frederick Joseph (Joe) Keith (Valerie) of Earlysville, VA; three grandchildren, Peter James Keith (Claire) of Richmond, VA, Daniel Miller Keith of Charlottesville, VA, and Julia Grace Keith of Charlottesville, VA. He is also survived by his brother, Thomas Joseph Keith of Fayetteville, NC; sister-in-law, Dorothy T. Volpe of Marietta, GA; six nephews and two nieces and their families; and many cousins. 

He is predeceased by his parents; sister, Mary Keith Perry; brother-in-law, Dow Vick Perry, Sr.; nephew, Dow Vick Perry, Jr.; sister-in-law, Anne Bell Keith; and sister-in-law, Tyra J. Troy.  

The family wishes to thank all who reached out over the last few years as Fred appreciated your visits and calls. And special thanks to his wonderful caregivers during his last year: Jennifer, Debbie, Tammy (Patti!), Savannah, Tiffany, and Kristen.  
Memorial contributions may be made to either:

— The Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Kennesaw Museum Foundation, PO Box 846, Kennesaw, GA 30156, www.southernmuseum.org/join-give/#donations.

— Georgia Tech Foundation, Inc. - the Judy and Fred R. Keith Endowment in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Office of Development, Gift Accounting, 817 West Peachtree Street, N.W., Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30308-1188, www.gtf.gatech.edu/

Celebrations of Fred’s life will occur later this year at the Southern Museum in Kennesaw, GA (Aug. 11) and in Asheboro and White Lake, NC (dates TBD).