caption resting_place death_date death_place years_active birth_place article_title name parents birth_date alma_mater known_for spouse image employer birth_name occupation death_cause
tom onstage in a live performance of '' a prairie home keith companion '' -lrb- left -rrb- with other cast members acacia u.s. park cemetery , mendota heights , minnesota , 30 october 2011 woodbury , minnesota , u.s. 1973 -- 2011 st. paul , minnesota , u.s. tom keith
 tom keith james -lrb- jimmy -rrb- keith 21 december 1946 university of minnesota sound effects ri wei liu-keith prairiehomecompanion2007-06 . jpg minnesota public radio thomas alan keith radio personality massive pulmonary embolism
tom keith

thomas alan keith -lrb- december 21 , 1946 -- october 30 , 2011 -rrb- was a radio personality who worked for minnesota public radio in st. paul , minnesota .
he was the engineer for garrison keillor when he began his early morning radio show from the st. john 's university , collegeville , minnesota studio .
keillor wanted dialogue during the program and keith was about the only other person around at that early hour .
keith was one of the primary sound effects performers for the `` prairie home companion '' radio show and was often an actor in sketches written by keillor .
keillor created the persona of jim ed poole for keith on the old early morning show .
jim ed was said to have grown up in west st. paul , minnesota and graduated from henry sibley high school .
after serving in the marine corps , keith earned a degree from the university of minnesota .
when production of the radio program moved to st. paul , tom keith continued to play jim ed who lived in the hotel transom with his pet chicken , curtis .
when keillor left the morning program , keith was joined on `` the morning show '' by dale connelly .
he maintained the jim ed poole persona and developed several other characters -lrb- like dr. larry kyle of genway laboratories and b. marty barry the self-described `` bottomless well of wellness '' -rrb- in cooperation with connelly .
keith developed his vocal and sound effects skills on the morning program and later on `` prairie home companion '' .
on october 15 , 2008 , keith announced his intention to retire on december 11 .
`` the morning show '' was discontinued after a final live performance at the fitzgerald theater in st. paul that morning .
