Family Circus (1960-present) has become one of the most popular
comics in the world, running in more than thirteen hundred newspapers. Bil
Keane began honing his cartooning skills in military publications while he was a
serviceman in World War II. The idea for the panel about family life actually
came to him as early as 1952. More than forty Family Circus books have been printed, several animated TV specials produced, and the strip has
won Reuben Awards.

In the Christian magazine Guideposts, in 1989, Keane revealed that the
comic was largely based on his own family (he and his wife have five children
and several grandchildren). One cartoon sums up nicely "one of God's paradoxical laws of love." As he says, "the more you give, the more you're
able to give."

"I tried to put all that in [one] cartoon ... There is Mommy, a full bag of groceries in one hand, her purse in the other, and Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and PJ
tugging at her knees. The woman at the left asks the question, 'How do you
divide your love among four children?' And Mommy's answer, real words to grow
on: 'I don't divide it. I multiply it.'"

Link (http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=110422417)


PHOENIX (AP) - Thelma Keane, the inspiration for the Mommy character in the long-running "Family Circus" comic created by her husband, Bil Keane, has died. She was 82.

She died Friday of Alzheimer's disease, the family said.

"Family Circus," which Keane began drawing in 1960, depicts the good-humored life of two parents and their four children. It is now featured in about 1,500 newspapers.

"She was the inspiration for all of my success," Bil Keane, 85, told The Associated Press from his home in Paradise Valley on Sunday. "When the cartoon first appeared, she looked so much like Mommy that if she was in the supermarket pushing her cart around, people would come up to her and say, 'Aren't you the Mommy in 'Family Circus?' and she would admit it."

Bil and Thelma "Thel" Keane met during World War II in the war bond office in Brisbane, Australia. She was a native Australian working as an accounting secretary, and Bil worked next to her as a promotional artist for the U.S. Army.

"I had this desk alongside the most beautiful Australian 18-year-old girl with long brown hair," Bil Keane said. "And I got up enough nerve to ask her for a date."

The two married in 1948 and moved to Bil Keane's hometown of Philadelphia. They had five children and moved to the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley in 1958.

Not only was Thelma Keane the inspiration for the always-loving and ever-patient comic character also named Thel, but she worked full-time as her husband's business and financial manager. Her family says she was the reason Bil Keane became one of the first syndicated newspaper cartoonists to win back all rights to his comic.

"There was nothing that I did in the cartoon world or in the business world that she wasn't the instigator of, and she certainly deserves all the credit that I get credit for," Bil Keane said.

Thelma Keane's Alzheimer's disease was diagnosed about five years ago, and she had been at an assisted-living center near the family home for the last three years, said her daughter, Gayle Keane, 58, of Napa, Calif.

Just last month, Gayle Keane said, her mother was singing and dancing as the family visited her and celebrated her birthday.

"We all had a time to say goodbye in the end," Gayle Keane said. "I just think she's in a better place, and she's not dealing with that fog and confusion that Alzheimer's brings into your life."

Bil Keane continues to produce "Family Circus" with the help of his youngest son, Jeff. Keane sketches out the ideas, characters and captions and sends them to Jeff for inking.

In addition to Bil, Gayle and Jeff Keane, survivors include her sons Neal, Glen and Christopher, and nine grandchildren.

Keane said that although his wife is gone, she is still with him.

"The losing of Thel is a heartbreaking thing for me," he said. "However, it makes me realize how important she was to my worldly success, and I know where she is now, I feel that she's still helping me and probably giving me the inspirations you can only get from an angel in heaven."

OMG, I love Family Circus!! One of the few comics I still read.

In fact, I have a couple of them on my fridge.

One reads:

Billy - "Mommy, Daddy says he's sure like to know which butter containers contain butter."

because I used to store leftovers in butter containers

and the other

Dad - "If magnets really have healing powers, our refrigerator will never break down."

because I have a whole bunch of magnets on my fridge.

I didn't know about his wife's death. Thank you for posting.

By the way, Bil's son Glen has been a Disney artist for several years now.

:wave:

I enjoyed reading the Family Circus comics every Sunday when I was a little kid.
Great Stuff!!!

i still love reading the family circus comics!
rip mrs. keane.