Keith Molter

Keith R. Molter, a cherished and dedicated husband, brother, uncle, friend and mentor, passed away May 23rd at IU Arnett Hospital in Lafayette, Indiana, following a six-month illness. He was born in Rochester, IN to Richard J. and Natalie C. Molter on August 19, 1954. After graduating from Jeff High School, Keith earned undergraduate degrees in History and Political Science and a Master’s in Restaurant Hotel & Institutional Management from Purdue University. For more than 26 years he shared his life with his wife, Bobbe. They married on July 6, 2006 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette. Along with his wife, Keith is survived by brothers Jeffrey (Julie Kantor) Molter of New York, NY., James (Betty) Molter of Trabuco Canyon, CA., and Kent (Tina) Molter of Loganville, GA., nephews Alex (Ryan) Molter of Seattle, WA., Anderson Molter of Memphis, TN., and Jacob Campbell of Dayton, IN.; nieces Mackenzie Molter of Athens, GA., and Deborah (Alex) and Maya Pinedo of Lake Forest, CA. He is also survived by many very close, longtime friends. Keith was preceded in death by his parents Richard J. and Natalie C. Molter. For many years Keith was the Foodservice Director and Graduate Instructor in the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management where he handled the daily operation of the HTM Café and the John Purdue Room restaurants; both of which were teaching laboratories for sophomore level hospitality management students. It was here where Keith started the successful and highly popular sophomore level International Lunch series; an endeavor usually designed for a senior level class. In 2017, Keith retired from industry having served 17 years as a foodservice consultant and director for Boilermaker Hospitality, the official foodservice management vendor for Purdue Athletics. He continued as a lecturer in the College of Health & Human Sciences, teaching courses in Customer Relations Management, Operations Management in Hospitality & Tourism and the Selling & Sales Management internship. Supporting local business and giving back to the community “where you live and work” was of utmost important to Keith. He intertwined this philosophy into his classroom assignments sending hundreds of students each semester into the community to volunteer at the YWCA, the Lafayette Food Finders food bank, St. Mary’s Healthcare, Purdue’s Oral English Proficiency program, and the Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Club. Recent semester projects in his hospitality operations course raised $10,000 for the Tyler Trent Foundation and over $2,000 for the Lafayette Women’s Shelter. During COVID, when residents of St. Mary’s Healthcare were not able to receive visitors or in-house volunteers, Keith’s class started a letter writing and pen-pal campaign sending hundreds of cards, letters, and artwork to residents instead. In keeping with this spirit of service, Keith would encourage you to make donations to any local charity of your choice. A Celebration of Life reception will be held on Thursday, May 26, 2022 from 4:00 – 7:00 P.M. at the Spurgeon Club located in Mackey Arena, West Lafayette IN. Enter off of Northwestern Avenue. Hahn-Groeber Funeral Home of Lafayette is honored to serve the Molter family. Please leave memories and condolences at www.hahngroeberfuneralhome.com