Born James Keith McGinnis to Oran L. McGinnis and Myrtle A. VonCannon in Conejos County at home in the town of Manassa, Colorado on August 12, 1927. Keith died July 28, 2015 in Silver City, NM at age 87.

Mr. McGinnis is survived by his wife, Anna Lee of 63 years; son, Mike Sawyer (Carol) of Los Lunas; daughter, Vicki Denshire (Cliff) of Deming; son, James McGinnis (Tammy) of Manassa; 9 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Keith is preceded in death by his parents, 9 brothers and sisters, son, Bill Mosely and grandson, Bobby Denshire.

Mr. McGinnis finished the 8th grade and then went to work on the family cattle ranch in southern Colorado wrangling horses and herding cattle. At age 19 he enlisted during WWII serving in the Army Air Corps and in the Korean conflict as a Synthetic Trainer Operator, mustering out of the United States Air Force at the rank of Sergeant.

He worked as an Engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad in Santa Rita and Hurley NM and retired after 20 years in Albuquerque, NM. After retiring from the railroad he worked for core drilling companies in Nevada as a driller looking for precious metals before pursuing his favorite pastime of fishing which he did until last year. James and Anna Lee McGinnis moved to Deming 12 years ago from Manassa, Colorado to escape the cold weather. A graveside memorial service will be held in Manassa, Colorado followed with inurnment of his ashes there.