Nanyee Keyes

On October 8, 2017, Dr. Nanyee Lim Keyes, of Acton, Massachusetts, died of a heart attack while mountain biking with friends at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, NH. She was a devoted mother to her two children, passionate partner to her husband of 33 years, and a dedicated family practitioner at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Nashua, NH.

Nanyee was born in Seoul, Korea January 7, 1961. She immigrated to the US in 1976 with her parents and three siblings, initially living in North Hollywood and then moving to Columbia, South Carolina where she went to public high school. Though she arrived in the US without speaking English, she applied herself at school and was selected to attend South Carolina’s Governor’s School, a program to help academically and artistically gifted children. Her high school German teacher urged her to apply to college at the University of Chicago where she was accepted and given a full scholarship. It was during the first week at the school’s orientation week that she met and began dating her future husband and life partner, Philip Keyes, of Concord, Massachusetts. After returning to South Carolina to study medicine at the University of South Carolina, she began her residency at the University of Massachusetts, and then her career as a family medicine doctor. She was passionate about her role as a health practitioner and was devoted to and loved by her many patients.

Nanyee loved the outdoors and had an adventurous spirit. She loved mountain biking, snowshoeing, skiing or just taking walks around her local conservation lands in Acton, Massachusetts where she lived in the same house since 1991. She and her husband spent many weekends motorcycle camping throughout New England. She also loved opera, literature, art museums, and the practice of mindful meditation. She was renowned for her beautiful broad smile and her open and friendly demeanor.

Nanyee is survived by her husband, Philip, her son Natan and daughter Maxine, and her family in the Los Angeles area, her father, Sun Young Lim, mother, Eun Hi Cho, and her brothers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their children.

A private burial and memorial is being planned. In lieu of flowers, consider making a donation to United for Puerto Rico (http://unidosporpuertorico.com) to help the people of Puerto Rico overcome the devastation of Hurricane Maria.

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