KEROFF, Tony D. 1916-2003
KEROFF, SMOKOV, GREKOFF, MINKOFF
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 1/20/2013 at 22:09:56
Tony Keroff, 86, of Miles City died early Tuesday morning, Jan. 21, 2003, in the Veterans Affairs Nursing Home in Miles City.
Mr. Keroff was born June 1, 1916, in Streeter, N.D., to John and Mary Keroff. He attended school in North Dakota and then worked for Richardson Stables in Redland, Calif., and Big Bear Lake.
He joined the Army in 1941 and participated in two major engagements at Guadalcanal and New Georgia. Mr. Keroff was awarded the Bronze Star for "heroic achievement" on D-Day. He served with the infantry in Hawaii, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the Fijis and New Hebrides. In 1945, he was honorably discharged.
After the military service, he worked at the White Sun Guest Ranch in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for 25 years. He also worked at Lake Tahoe on the Ponderosa Ranch, which was the setting for the television show "Bonanza" and where Mr. Keroff got to know Loren Green, Hoss and Lil' Joe. He was an extra in the early cowboy movies and got to know Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Monte Montana. Mr. Keroff was a great performer in his own right, quite skilled at rope twirling and other cowboy talents.
He never married, but enjoyed the company of his extended family, especially their travels to Reno, Nev., South Dakota, North Dakota and California.
Mr. Keroff enjoyed rodeos and playing the slot machines. In 1983, he moved to the Eagles Manor in Miles City to be near family.
His niece, Dorie Jas, enjoyed a special relationship with Mr. Keroff that made his final years full and satisfying, despite his physical limitations. He made his last home at the VA Nursing Home Care Unit where he lived the last four and one-half years of his life, Survivors include two sisters, Lydia Grekoff of Steele, N.D., and Nettie Keroff of Osage, Iowa; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his sisters, Barbara, Christina and Katie; and his two brothers, Mike and George.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, Jan. 25, 2003, at 10 a.m. in the Veterans Affairs Nursing Home. Interment, with full military honors, will follow in the Eastern Montana State Veterans Cemetery.
Stevenson and Sons Funeral Home of Miles City is in charge of the arrangements.
[Stevenson and Sons Funeral Home]
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[Waterloo Daily Courier, Sunday, August 27, 1944, Waterloo, Iowa]
Pfc. Tony D. Keroff, formerly of Waterloo, is visiting his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Gus Koeff, 1003½ Lafayette Street, while on a 21-day furlough following 32 months' duty in the south Pacific. Private Keroff wears the Asiatic-Pacific ribbon with two stars for major battles and also the expert infantryman badge.
He finds it a real pleasure to be back on "good American soil." Tuesday he will leave for Ft. Sam Houston, Tex., where he is to receive a new assignment. While on Furlough Private Keroff also visited his mother, Mrs. Mary Keroff, Osage, Iowa., and his brother, George, Dysart, Iowa.
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His mother Mary's obit lists eight children:
Survivors include eight children: Mrs. Koeff of Orchard; George Keroff of Waterloo; Mrs. Barbara Smokov, Mrs. Fred [Lydia] Grekoff, Steele, N.D.; Mrs. Pete Minkoff, Mrs. Jim Grokoff, Mike Keroff of Miles City, Mont., and Tony Keroff of Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Black Hawk Obituaries maintained by Karen De Groote.
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