What can come from unimaginable loss?

In this episode of Off the Record, Gerstner Adam Law attorneys Paul Adam and Colin Gerstner sit down with Jeff and Kori Keller, founders of the Ramsey Keller Memorial.

Jeff and Kori share the story of their daughter Ramsey, who passed away two days after her birth in 2011, and how their family’s experience inspired them to help other Montana families facing infant loss.

They discuss how the Ramsey Keller Memorial began, why the organization helps cover infant funeral expenses, the personal relationships they’ve built with grieving families, and the faith and community support that have carried the mission forward.

Jeff and Kori also talk about the memorial’s fundraising events, including Run for Heaven’s Sake, the Pink Tie Affair, the annual $23 November campaign, and its golf tournament.

And after a deeply personal conversation, the episode takes a lighter turn with a highly competitive round of Taylor Swift, baseball, and golf trivia.

Learn more about the Ramsey Keller Memorial:
https://kisses2heaven.com/

Learn more about Gerstner Adam Law:
https://www.gerstnerlawoffice.com/

Watch more episodes of Off the Record:
https://www.gerstnerlawoffice.com/podcast-2/

Meet Paul Adam:
https://www.gerstnerlawoffice.com/legal-team/paul-adam/

Meet Colin Gerstner:
https://www.gerstnerlawoffice.com/legal-team/colin-gerstner/

#RamseyKellerMemorial #InfantLoss #PregnancyLoss #BillingsMontana #OffTheRecord #GerstnerAdamLaw

Paul Adam — 0:07

Welcome back to another episode of Off the Record with Gerstner Adam Law. My name is Paul Adam. This is Colin Gerstner, and Colin, we have two special guests today. Why don’t you go ahead and introduce them?

Colin Gerstner — 0:17

Yes. I’m pumped they’re here. They’re our good friends, Jeff and Kori Keller. They are here to tell us about their foundation, the Ramsey Keller Memorial.

Before we dive in, I just want our viewers and listeners to know more about you. So Jeff, where’d you grow up?

Jeff Keller — 0:35

Havre. I’m a Blue Pony. Havre, Montana, northern Montana.

Colin Gerstner — 0:40

How’d you end up in Billings?

Jeff Keller — 0:42

Well, Havre’s a great place to grow up, right? You’ve got all kinds of good things, but it’s not a great place for a career.

We had an architect, an owner of an architecture company, come in and talk to our class, and I knew it was my ticket out of Havre. I said, “I want a job,” and he offered me a job. The rest is history. I moved out right away.

That was 1993.

Colin Gerstner — 1:07

And you’ve been in Billings since. Wow. What about you, Kori? Where’d you grow up?

Kori Keller — 1:11

I’m born and raised here.

Colin Gerstner — 1:13

Okay. Where’d you go to high school?

Kori Keller — 1:14

West High.

Colin Gerstner — 1:15

Nice. Beautiful. So, do you guys have a sweet story about how you met? I mean, if it’s awkward or embarrassing, we can just cut this part.

Paul Adam — 1:23

We won’t cut that.

Colin Gerstner — 1:24

Okay.

Paul Adam — 1:24

We want the good stuff.

Colin Gerstner — 1:25

The more embarrassing, the better. So, how did you guys meet?

Jeff Keller — 1:29

It’s not embarrassing, but there are embarrassing parts to it.

Both Kori and I have a deep faith in Christ. I was going through a lot of things in life, and I had just bought a house. Things were pretty good. I finally sat down one night and prayed. I just said, “God, I’m ready. I’m ready for that next chapter in my life. If you’ve got someone prepared for me, I’m ready.”

The next morning, I had a dude I hadn’t seen in two years literally come to my house and knock on the door. My dad answered it, and he’s like, “Hey, is Jeff here?” They’re like, “No, he’s doing something.” And he’s like, “Well, I’ve got a blind date for him.”

It ended up being Kori. That’s how it happened.

That’s why, when we fight, we’re like, “Well, God really kind of ordained this thing,” because it was that. Then I saw her at church, and one thing kind of led to another.

But she absolutely had zero interest in me when we met.

Kori Keller — 2:40

No, that’s not true. We were married eight months later. We were engaged after five months and married after eight.

Jeff Keller — 2:46

No, but that night, on the first date, right?

Paul Adam — 2:48

What did you guys do? What was the first date?

Kori Keller — 2:50

Well, that might be true. We went on a double date.

Jeff Keller — 2:52

Dos Machos. She sat there—and I’m a lot older—

Colin Gerstner — 2:56

And that would have been at the mall location?

Jeff Keller — 2:58

It would have been the mall, yeah.

Paul Adam — 2:59

Whose idea was this? Was this yours, Jeff?

Jeff Keller — 3:01

No, it was Scott’s and Darcy’s.

Kori Keller — 3:03

The couple that set us up. I was doing hair at the time, and I had done their hair a handful of times. They thought we’d be a great match, so they went with us.

Jeff Keller — 3:11

Yeah, and they were great, and they were fine, but she was sitting there putting off the vibe that, “I’m not interested.”

So then I’m like, “Well, what do I have to lose?” I was a 98-pound kid through high school. I got told no all the time.

Paul Adam — 3:30

Yeah.

Jeff Keller — 3:30

This is just a challenge. It’s all gravy. I’m playing with house money.

Then we went out to—what was it where they had the—

Kori Keller — 3:45

The mini golf.

Jeff Keller — 3:46

Yeah, the mini golf thing. It was closed, so we were just going to go our separate ways. We said our goodnights, and then I turned around and she’s right there by my car. She’s like, “Hey, will you take me home?”

I’m like, “Yeah.”

Kori Keller — 4:02

To my parents’ house, where I lived.

Jeff Keller — 4:03

I know. But that’s how it happened. I was so nervous. I don’t do well with girls.

I met back up with Scott and Darcy, and I had these rules like, “Well, you have to wait three days before you can call her.”

Paul Adam — 4:21

Are these your self-imposed rules?

Jeff Keller — 4:24

I guess it’s like the unwritten dating rule or whatever. Darcy flat-out said, “You can’t call her for three days.”

Colin Gerstner — 4:33

Don’t be desperate.

Jeff Keller — 4:33

Yeah, don’t be desperate. You’ve got to play it cool.

So I waited, and I called up to get a haircut.

Paul Adam — 4:42

Oh, I like that. That’s the move right there.

Jeff Keller — 4:46

Were you working at Little Noggins?

Kori Keller — 4:47

No, I wasn’t.

Colin Gerstner — 4:47

Okay.

Kori Keller — 4:48

It was their adult counterpart.

Colin Gerstner — 4:50

Okay.

Jeff Keller — 4:50

Correct. They had the storefront, and when I pulled up, the store was empty. All her friends and hairdressers were around, and then all of a sudden I pulled up, and it was kind of like cockroaches when you turn the lights on—gone.

It was just her, and I’m like, “Okay, they’re talking about me. This is a good chance. Fifty-fifty.”

When I went in, she looked beautiful. She was striking. I’m like, “I’m way out of my league on this one.”

She had the scissors and was cutting my hair. She was so nervous. I’m like, “Oh, yeah.”

Paul Adam — 5:26

Is this how you remember this, Kori? I’d love to hear the other side.

Jeff Keller — 5:35

She was nervous, and so it was awesome.

Kori Keller — 5:37

I probably was nervous. Yeah. I don’t quite remember shaking, but—

Jeff Keller — 5:42

I did. I’m like, “This is going to be the jugular.”

Kori Keller — 5:45

I think our first date was probably on a Saturday, and that Sunday we had seen each other passing in the parking lot at church. Then you came in for a haircut, I guess after three days.

Jeff Keller — 5:59

Oh, yeah. I had no idea what I was doing, so I took her to the symphony downtown, the Billings Symphony at Alberta Bair.

I didn’t know how to dress or do anything. I picked her up, she looked beautiful, and we went. The rest is kind of history after that.

Paul Adam — 6:21

You know exactly what you’re doing, Jeff. This sounds pretty Rico Suave. I mean, Dos Machos, then go to where she works and get a haircut.

Jeff Keller — 6:31

Yeah, that was pretty good.

Paul Adam — 6:33

I mean, there’s some physical contact that has to happen. You know what you’re doing. You’re not fooling us.

Jeff Keller — 6:39

She has to do the shampoo on the hair.

Paul Adam — 6:41

Yeah.

Jeff Keller — 6:42

That was good.

Colin Gerstner — 6:43

And the symphony? Way more sophisticated than you actually are. That is a great way to portray yourself.

Paul Adam — 6:49

When was the hook set? At what point?

Kori Keller — 6:52

It was very soon after that, just because we have so many of the same beliefs.

Even though I was younger than him—well, I still am younger than him—I was ready. I had gone through cosmetology school and had a career. I was ready.

Paul Adam — 7:10

I love that.

Kori Keller — 7:10

Once it clicked, it went fast.

Jeff Keller — 7:14

It’s a good story. Really, all kidding aside, as anybody who’s been married for any length of time knows, there are going to be fights or disagreements.

We would keep going back to our faith and say, “We know for certain that we’re supposed to be together.” It always feels right to put the petty stuff aside.

You’ll hear how that faith basically carried into the Ramsey Keller Memorial. When we lost the kid, you have to depend on the faith. We went back to the faith on that, and that’s what got us through some really dark times.

Colin Gerstner — 7:55

Yeah. So, you guys had Ramsey, but before that, you had three boys. Want to talk briefly about them? How are they doing?

Kori Keller — 8:06

Yeah. We had three boys within five years, so that was a lot. Our first one was born about 18 months after we were married.

Jeff Keller — 8:13

Now, you want to tell them—

Colin Gerstner — 8:16

How it happened?

Kori Keller — 8:16

I don’t.

Jeff Keller — 8:17

Well, not that part.

Paul Adam — 8:18

Let’s just make this a PG love story, Colin. What kind of podcast is this?

Kori Keller — 8:26

Right. I cried in the shower one day. I thought he had gone to work, and I was sobbing in the shower that I wanted a baby.

Jeff Keller — 8:33

We had this discussion at lunch.

Paul Adam — 8:35

Oh.

Jeff Keller — 8:35

I’m like, “No, not ready.” We had just gotten married and everything.

Then I left, but I forgot something and came back into the house. She was in the shower, and I heard these loud cries. It was exactly what you said.

I’m like, “Man, maybe it’s time. Maybe I need to listen to this.”

Then Elliot came.

Kori Keller — 8:55

Yeah. He’s 26. He lives in Bozeman and is part owner of a landscape company. Max is 23, married, and giving us our first grandbaby in February. So that’s exciting.

Jeff Keller — 9:08

Gender reveal this Saturday.

Kori Keller — 9:09

Yep. And Staley is 21, lives here, and works for a landscaping company.

Colin Gerstner — 9:16

So this is a hard story, but necessary. Tell the story of your foundation. Tell us about Ramsey.

Kori Keller — 9:25

After we had the first three boys, we thought we were done. We took a really long break.

Then a catastrophic thing happened in our family. One of Jeff’s cousins was 12 and passed away in a car accident. I think I was 34, so you were—I don’t know—but—

Jeff Keller — 9:45

That was Noah. Noah Keller.

Kori Keller — 9:46

Yeah. So we kind of started talking about how we’re still young, we still have time, and life is short.

That’s when we started trying to have Ramsey, and she was born in November of 2011.

We were super excited. I had found out what we were having but did not tell Jeff I even knew. I was secretly stashing clothes and stuff in the nursery and creating a life for this little girl who was coming after three boys. It was very exciting.

I really didn’t have any complications other than I was pretty miserable toward the end of my pregnancy. At one point, I was about 36 weeks, and the doctor felt like he had enough documentation to deliver at that time.

Still, when we went in, we just thought we were going to have our baby girl.

She came out. She was not breathing. I think everything just kind of went to hell after that.

I don’t remember a ton of it. You can maybe step in and talk about that. I’ve heard it secondhand, and I can piece it together, but it was a cesarean section, and I didn’t really know what was happening at the time.

Jeff Keller — 11:08

We came in, and they realized there was something wrong. It was, “Hey, we have to deliver her today.”

We’re like, “Okay.” So we got ready, and I’m texting all my buddies. They’re like, “Hey, if it’s a girl, my son’s going to date her,” and all that kind of stuff.

It’s our fourth one. Our guard was down. We were pretty relaxed and having a lot of fun with our friends on those text messages.

Then you realized something was getting pretty serious when we got into the operating room. I’d been in the room three other times, and this one was different. They had other specialists there. Something was going on. The vibe was completely different.

When they took Ramsey out, she was dark purple. She wasn’t breathing. All this stuff was going on, and you realize this is going to be different.

Everything slowed down, but yet it was going rapidly quick. You don’t know. “I can’t be losing a child.” It wasn’t really on our minds that that was what was going on because we were just celebrating minutes before.

Kori’s like, “Jeff, what is going on?” I’m having a tough time because I’m with this daughter of mine who was just delivered, but I’m with my wife at the same time. My face is with her face because of the cesarean wall that’s there.

She’s like, “You’ve got to go with her.”

I’m like, “I don’t know her yet. I know you, but I need to be with my daughter.”

The whole thing was surreal.

They got her to breathe, but it took a long time for her to get any sort of heartbeat going. It was pretty scary.

Kori Keller — 12:58

It turns out she was ultimately diagnosed with what’s called hydrops fetalis. It’s something that happened where her body filled with fluid—her whole chest cavity.

When she came out, there was so much fluid that her organs couldn’t function appropriately.

What they ended up doing was inserting chest tubes and draining all of that liquid out. They did get her going in the operating room, and then she stayed in the NICU for two days until she passed away.

There really wasn’t a reason why. Nobody, to this day, can tell us why that happened.

Paul Adam — 13:47

How do you move—and I’m not sure if we want to talk about some of the in-between time here—but how do you move from that moment and that place of such darkness to creating something so incredible like the Ramsey Keller Memorial?

How long did it take from that moment until it came to fruition?

Kori Keller — 14:15

You look for light.

Paul Adam — 14:16

Yeah.

Kori Keller — 14:16

And you look for signs from God.

For instance, Jeff was at home. It was five in the morning the day she passed away, and nurses came running into my room, literally threw me in a wheelchair, and pushed me into the NICU.

I had the wherewithal to say, “Can we stop? I need my phone. I need to call my husband.”

Of course I needed to call Jeff, I know that. But with the whirlwind that was happening there, it’s incredible to me that God dropped that on my heart—that I needed to call my husband before I even got through the NICU doors.

I was just able to say, “Come now. I don’t know.”

He was able to get down there. We really feel like angels literally carried Jeff’s truck down Rimrock to the hospital because he was there before she actually passed away.

I felt like I turned around and he was there.

Jeff Keller — 15:15

Yeah. I was there before people we contacted who were just a few blocks away.

Kori Keller — 15:19

Right.

Jeff Keller — 15:20

We were living clear up by the temple at that time. Somehow I got there.

I rushed through and actually passed right by Kori. I shot into this room, and Ramsey was in the incubator.

I’m instantly like, “What’s going on?”

The doctor turned to me and said, “We need a decision right away.”

I’m like, “What is it?”

They’re like, “Well, we can either do one more shot of adrenaline—”

Kori Keller — 15:52

Basically.

Jeff Keller — 15:53

“—or we just take her off.”

I’m like, “What?”

I was just looking at cheerleader outfits in the morning, thinking things were good.

They walked us through what they had done all night and what it was looking like. She actually had a decent night. It was just a bad morning.

Judging from all of the NICU nurses’ faces and tears, you knew she was probably gone, and one more shot probably would have done some real damage to her.

We decided at that time to take her off and hold her and take whatever time we had with her and spend it together as a family.

A good friend of ours had the boys. My parents brought the kids, and they saw us holding Ramsey in this private room. They thought she was fine.

“Oh my gosh!”

She was.

I don’t know how long we had her alive in our arms. We had her for a little bit—minutes.

Then they allowed us to share her with our family and friends who were there in the waiting room.

Kori Keller — 17:08

We just passed her around and loved on her.

Paul Adam — 17:11

Yeah.

Kori Keller — 17:11

All day.

Paul Adam — 17:12

In the waiting room right there outside of the OB.

Kori Keller — 17:15

Yeah. There’s a small waiting room that they kind of closed off for all of us because we had a lot of people up there.

We let the boys hold her and kiss on her. We got lots of pictures, and that was cool.

Jeff Keller — 17:26

I’m glad we did all the pictures that we did, even on day two. They colored, they did things, they read stories to her.

It’s really odd and bizarre to sit there and think, “I’m going to take pictures of this whole thing and document it.”

But we’re so glad we did because we have those memories.

Kori Keller — 17:43

Yeah.

Jeff Keller — 17:43

So then moving forward—how do you move forward?

Like you said, you look for the light.

Both Kori and I aren’t quitters. We’re fighters. Because of our faith that we were talking about earlier, we just believed there had to be something.

We offered it up to God and went through really dark times, but at the same time, kept moving forward.

One thing kind of led to another, and then the idea popped in: “Hey, we should pay this forward with other people.”

Kori sent out kind of an all-women broadcast to her girlfriends in the community. “We want to do this.”

They came up with some really good ideas—the galas and whatnot.

Kori Keller — 18:33

Yeah. We had a brainstorming meeting.

To answer your question about how we got started, my dad came forward and said, “I want to pay for her funeral. I don’t care about anything. You should not have to do this.”

Paul Adam — 18:45

Okay.

Kori Keller — 18:45

We did not know what a gift that was until we got to the funeral home, and everything has a price tag.

I don’t begrudge them. They’re running a business. They take very good care of our families. But the fact of the matter is, it all costs money.

Paul Adam — 18:57

Yeah.

Kori Keller — 18:57

We just could not fathom that people were making choices about how to honor their children based on finances. It broke me. I couldn’t even imagine.

That’s when we got together and started talking about it. We thought, “Well, if we contract with funeral homes and pay for infant funerals or something like that”—when it was still a beginning thought—”we wouldn’t have to deal with qualifications, whether they have insurance, or whether they could do it themselves. We’ll just do it whether they can or not.”

We have no qualifications, no paperwork. We’ll just work with funeral homes.

Paul Adam — 19:34

Yep.

Kori Keller — 19:35

Then I had a powwow with all the girls. Twenty-five or 30 women showed up.

It was, “Who does everybody know in marketing and media and anything that we could ever know? What should we name our events? How can we do this?”

We had different ideas at each table, and every few minutes everybody rotated to mix with different people and talk about who knew what and how we could do it.

That’s really when it was born.

We paid for our first funeral in February of 2012, so it was only about four months later.

Colin Gerstner — 20:11

So that’s what the Ramsey Keller Memorial does? It pays for infant funerals?

Kori Keller — 20:15

Right. Yep. Infant funerals under the age of one, any gestational age inside their mama.

We value life at all stages. So if they have a 16-week miscarriage, a second trimester loss, a stillbirth—it doesn’t matter to us. If they’re your baby and they’re under the age of one, then we’ll pay for their funeral.

Paul Adam — 20:36

How do people find out about Ramsey Keller Memorial?

Billings is a small town in some sense, but, to be honest, I didn’t know that was actually the sole purpose—that that’s where the funds were used.

How do you find people? How do they find you?

Kori Keller — 20:54

At first, it was really convincing the hospitals in Montana and the nurses, when there was a loss, to give our pamphlet out.

The funeral homes were a little more hesitant. They didn’t know how long we’d be around. “Do they really have the money to pay in full for every infant funeral?”

We started out with a bang by honoring the whole state.

But you know what? We pay every bill, and we pay it on time. They’ve come to trust and know that we will do that for them.

It took a little bit of time for people to realize, “This is what we’re doing.” It was a lot of communication on our part, reaching out to funeral homes.

We loved our nurses, and even to this day, we still love those nurses who were with us, including Colin’s wife.

We’re not going away. This is what we do. We’re going to do it, and we’re going to do it well.

Paul Adam — 21:47

So hospitals have this type of information, and when these NICU units or OB units recognize this—

Kori Keller — 21:56

Yep. They read the pamphlet. They kind of see what we’re about. They hop on our website after seeing it.

Sometimes a family member will reach out, but really, it’s at the funeral home when the funeral home can say, “Here’s their pamphlet again, and they are paying for this.”

The freedom that they get in those choices—I love it.

Colin Gerstner — 22:15

I’ve, by the grace of God, never had a child die. But we’ve all had family members pass away, and sometimes it’s expected, right? They’re elderly, or maybe they had a health issue.

It’s kind of a surreal moment where, after the passing, you’re struck with grief. You’re with your family just processing it.

Then reality starts. It’s like, “Now we’ve got to plan a funeral.”

Just the logistics of it.

That’s going to be such a blessing for these families—to say, “It’s all covered.”

You necessarily have to meet and plan it to some degree, but you don’t have to worry about, “Am I going to put this on my credit card?” or “Am I going to have to not have a funeral even though I want to because I just can’t swing it?”

Kori Keller — 22:59

One of the families we helped called us “the gentle giant that wakes up in the background,” and I love that.

In the midst of deep, deep grief and mass chaos, we just kind of work behind the scenes.

I don’t need anybody to call me. I don’t need to ask what the baby’s sex was or how far along you were. We don’t need to do that.

I love that part of it. I love being the gentle giant in the background.

Paul Adam — 23:28

So you’re not just getting an invoice and writing a check and saying, “Here you go.” You’re working with that family to almost plan what that needs to be for them.

Kori Keller — 23:41

Yeah. It’s funny you say that because when we started, I thought that would be my role.

“Oh, I’ll just write checks.”

I’m pretty black and white. Jeff’s the gray area. I was like, “This is just how it’s going to work.”

But there is no support, especially for moms who lose a child. Well, actually, especially for dads—but moms too.

It just turned out that way. They’d call, they’d email, they would text, they’d chat.

Some of our dearest friends are baby-loss families. We went to dinner with some just this year. A couple of months ago, we got to go to someone’s house and talk to them and be with them.

That was something I didn’t expect.

Paul Adam — 24:24

Boy, that’s an incredible service, Kori.

In some way, you’re having to live your own experience over again with these other families. Not only are you funding something in their most critical time, but you’re also probably counseling and providing that service, which is priceless for a family that’s going through this.

I did not know that at all.

Jeff Keller — 24:53

We meet with the—yeah. What I really like too is, Kori for sure is probably one of the first people in the state to know when a baby dies.

Kori Keller — 25:07

Oh yeah. Absolutely.

Jeff Keller — 25:08

A baby dies, and then it’s either the mama’s sister or the mama’s mama—sometimes the husband, but not as much—calling and asking, “What’s the next step? We were told about you guys from the NICU.”

There was one time, and it was painful, where the baby was on life support. They didn’t want to remove life support until they talked to us.

We were at a Halloween party. We’re all dressed up. We’re having a good time, and the call comes in. Bam.

They’re like, “Here’s the situation. Here’s what this room looks like. Here’s who’s in this room. We’re not letting the doctors remove life support until we know what the next steps are with the Ramsey Keller Memorial.”

That’s when you realize—

Kori Keller — 25:55

It’s an honor.

Jeff Keller — 25:56

It is. It’s a huge honor, and you take it seriously.

It was a tough night. I still remember exactly what we were wearing, what it smelled like—the room—because everything just stopped.

Kori Keller — 26:07

One story—and I don’t know that this has to make it in there—but there were twins, a boy and a girl, about eight or nine years ago. Their mom brutally murdered the little boy. He was probably only about eight weeks old.

He’s buried out where Ramsey is.

I got a lot of questions from the community about whether we were going to cover the infant funeral for them.

Absolutely, we are.

Paul Adam — 26:35

Yeah.

Kori Keller — 26:36

Are you kidding me? That’s what our mission is. That’s what we’re going to do.

I’m not doing this for the mom at this point. I’m doing it because that’s what this child has. Other family members who did not abuse him, who love him, and want to honor him.

We chose to do that.

About six weeks later, this literally broken-down, beaten-up, rumbling car comes into our driveway. I was home alone with the kids.

This little old man comes out. He’s unkempt and knocks on the door. I opened it up, and he had a homemade plaque he had made. It had stickers from Hobby Lobby on it and just said his grandson’s name.

He was the grandpa of the little baby who was viciously murdered by his mother—his daughter.

He just could not thank us enough. He said, “Thank you for not judging us, and thank you for walking beside us.”

Not all of our donors know that story, but it was a real lesson for me. I knew I was doing the right thing, but God just confirmed to me that this is our mission, and we’re going to follow through with that no matter the circumstances.

I think about him from time to time.

Like I said, that little boy is buried where Ramsey is, so I get to see and share time with him too.

Colin Gerstner — 27:53

How many families do you help per year?

Kori Keller — 27:56

We help approximately 100 to 120 families.

Statistically, that’s every baby in Montana. We absolutely pay for every baby in Montana.

Now, their statistics are after the age of about 24 weeks, which is viability, and we’re obviously catching the ones that are in utero before that also.

So yeah, we help every single one, really, unless their church steps in, or they’re independently wealthy and want to do it.

Jeff Keller — 28:31

Or the tribes sometimes do things differently too.

Kori Keller — 28:33

Yeah. Tribes do things differently in Montana too.

But at this point, in year 15, we’re catching every single one.

Colin Gerstner — 28:44

Do you guys fundraise?

Jeff Keller — 28:47

Heck yes!

Paul Adam — 28:48

Tell us about what’s coming up.

Jeff Keller — 28:51

All kinds of fun stuff. You’ve got the gala. You’ve got the run. We’ve got Ramsey’s $23 for her birthday in November—she was born on the 23rd—and then the golf tournament.

So yeah, if you want to talk about what’s coming up—

Kori Keller — 29:05

Yeah, lots of fundraising.

We’re just parents who started a grassroots effort, right? We’re not trained in philanthropy or anything else. We’re very event-heavy.

We start the year off with a 5K, and that is a really special time.

Families travel from all over the state. It’s kind of the mothership, if you will.

They also get to buy memorial signs for their child, so at the very end of the run, you walk or run through 50 memorial signs.

Colin’s been able to do that. It’s pretty significant.

Colin Gerstner — 29:40

And powerful. I’m moved to tears every time. I choke up thinking about it.

When you come across the finish line and see all the signs, it’s moving.

Kori Keller — 29:47

Absolutely.

It’s moving for the families to be able to have something physical and tangible like that. We usually have about 1,000 runners, walkers, and families.

To know that all those people get to go and see their sign—that’s a really big one.

It’s probably the biggest fundraiser for baby-loss families. They get to see other faces they’ve connected with on Facebook, in support groups, or whatever. That’s very fun.

Our second one we started was the Pink Tie Affair. It’s the fourth Saturday of every September. This year it’s September 26.

Paul Adam — 30:23

Okay.

Kori Keller — 30:23

It started as a gala and still is a gala.

This year we’re doing something different. We hired a murder mystery company that was actually seen on Shark Tank. They’re flying out five actors from New York City to host the murder mystery party.

They’ll come in and mingle the first hour. None of the guests will know who they are. They should blend in, and they’ll be handpicking who they want to be part of their murder mystery when it gets started.

We’re really excited about that.

Paul Adam — 30:51

Oh, that sounds fun!

Kori Keller — 30:52

Yeah.

Colin Gerstner — 30:53

I have a table at this event already, and I think it might be my big break. I’m hoping I’m selected.

Kori Keller — 31:00

I know. Jackie’s like, “Oh man, Colin wants to. They better pick Colin.”

Colin Gerstner — 31:04

Yeah, I hope so.

Kori Keller — 31:05

We’re really excited to do something different for year 15.

Galas can kind of be the same thing. We’ll still have our slideshow and tell everyone what we do and how we do it, kind of like we’re doing here. It’ll be a shortened version so we have more fun and the hosts have more time to conduct their murder mystery.

It’s a 1920s theme.

Paul Adam — 31:24

Love it.

Kori Keller — 31:25

We’re excited about that.

Every year, because she was born on November 23rd, we ask people to give $23 during the month of November.

Some years we raise $8,000 just through $23 donations. It continually grows every year. That’s really fun.

Then a baby-loss family we helped spearheaded our golf tournament.

This was year three—

Jeff Keller — 31:54

This was year two.

Kori Keller — 31:55

Okay, year two.

That was super successful too. They work super hard at it. We both join beside them and do all of that.

Jeff Keller — 32:03

That’s so much fun, though. We get to sit out at a hole as everyone comes through and meet everybody. It’s cool.

Kori Keller — 32:11

Yeah.

Jeff Keller — 32:11

Tell them how the name of the race came about. I love that story.

Kori Keller — 32:16

Tell them how?

Jeff Keller — 32:18

How we got “Run for Heaven’s Sake.”

Kori Keller — 32:21

From my client?

Jeff Keller — 32:22

Yeah.

Kori Keller — 32:22

Oh, yeah.

Jeff Keller — 32:24

Because we didn’t know what to call it.

Kori Keller — 32:26

I didn’t know what to call it. You know, dark, sarcastic humor. I’m like, “What do you call this when we’re honoring babies who have died?”

Babies and death are taboo in a sentence together, right?

I was doing hair at the time, and one of my favorite clients—she was our kids’ teacher—just sparked it.

She said something like, “Run for heaven’s sake.”

Jeff Keller — 32:53

“Just call it Run for Heaven’s Sake.”

Kori Keller — 32:55

Yeah.

Colin Gerstner — 32:56

That’s awesome.

Kori Keller — 32:56

That’s perfect.

Jeff Keller — 32:56

So you take out the comma: Run for Heaven’s Sake.

Kori Keller — 32:57

The name for the Pink Tie Affair came out of that brainstorming meeting from a friend too.

She’s like, “How about instead of a black-tie affair, we do a Pink Tie Affair?”

Everybody kind of has their little spot in our hearts and in our foundation. That’s really fun—to be able to share it with other people.

Jeff Keller — 33:14

We had a motorcycle group early on. They didn’t know what to do in terms of giving back to the community.

The wives found Kori and were following Kori on Facebook and whatnot.

These guys have big names. I mean, they’re tough dudes—Bear and Skull or Skeletor.

They came in like, “What’s going on? We want to meet. We’ve got to figure this out. We have to be here because our wives are making us do this.”

Next thing you know, they started a motorcycle raffle. They sold like $30,000 worth of raffle tickets.

Then they would come in with this huge check and present it to us at the gala.

They were all excited to wear pink, so they came up wearing a pink tie and pink whatever with their motorcycle stuff on.

Colin Gerstner — 34:08

I remember their vests.

Kori Keller — 34:09

Yeah.

Colin Gerstner — 34:10

Looking like Sons of Anarchy walking in there.

Jeff Keller — 34:13

Yeah, basically. We’re still friends with quite a few of them.

Kori Keller — 34:18

And to lead into that, that’s what’s so important.

Not that you have to have a bike club and raise $30,000, but really finding people in different communities around the state who will be champions for us.

People who say, “This cause is worthy of our time and effort, so we’re going to help them raise some money.”

That’s really what we need and what we have to have to keep going.

Colin Gerstner — 34:39

So the Pink Tie Affair—in our household, it’s circled on the calendar as soon as you find out the date. It’s always a fun time.

Are there still tables available? Seats? If any of our listeners want to join us, how would they do so?

Kori Keller — 34:51

There are seats available, and we have a website, Kisses2Heaven.com.

It should be linked right under Events.

You can buy single tickets. You can buy a table. You could buy a VIP table. There’s still a handful of options left.

It’s almost in two weeks.

Paul Adam — 35:10

So get your 1920s gear now. It’s going to take two weeks just to assemble a 1920s outfit.

What are you wearing, Colin? You want to tell?

Colin Gerstner — 35:19

Oh yeah. Long story, but I went to law school without ever owning a suit.

It became pretty apparent that I’d show up at these job interviews looking like five cents and everybody else looked like a million bucks.

So I was like, “I’ve got to buy some suits.”

I found a screaming deal, and I got three suits that are comically large on me. I’m six-six. I’m a big guy, but they’re huge.

I look like a 1920s gangster when I wear them. I’ve got pinstripes.

Kori Keller — 35:49

Oh, nice.

Colin Gerstner — 35:49

I’ve worn these suits a few times. I wore one at your decades event one year. Our friend group all went in the ’20s.

I wore it at a different murder mystery dinner, actually.

Kori Keller — 36:10

Perfect.

Colin Gerstner — 36:11

I think that’s only three or four times I’ve worn it.

So I’m going to wear an oversized pinstripe suit. Jackie has a flapper girl outfit.

Kori Keller — 36:14

Oh yeah. She sent me a picture.

One question you should ask Colin is what his favorite song is to dance to at the Pink Tie Affair.

Paul Adam — 36:19

Oh, favorite song to dance to? Boy, I bet I could almost guess it.

Paul Adam — 36:30

The Humpty Dance.

Colin Gerstner — 36:32

No.

Something about the opening guitar lick—I don’t know if you call it that—to Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.” just gets my heart pumping.

Paul Adam — 36:43

That gets it going. How can you not?

Kori Keller — 36:46

It’s the best. We can’t have the Pink Tie Affair without Colin dancing to that.

Paul Adam — 36:52

So if you want to give, Kisses2Heaven.com is the website. Check it out.

It sounds like there are multiple ways to support this.

It’s a memorial. We’ve been calling it a foundation, which is fine, but it’s the Ramsey Keller Memorial.

Check out the website. Donate. Go to the events. Go to the run. What a great cause.

Last bit though, Colin. I know you’re dying to get this in, and we’re going to run out of time. But I want to give you your shot.

Colin Gerstner — 37:28

Paul always does this. He always talks about how we need more pizzazz with the podcast. We try to cut it off, though, and get to the fun part.

Paul Adam — 37:35

No, here’s your shot, man.

Colin Gerstner — 37:37

So we have some prizes here.

We’ve got a sleeve of logoed golf balls—I don’t know if you can zoom in and see that, Ben—and some logoed Gerstner Adam Law sunglasses.

Prizes go to the winner of this trivia game. You guys are going to face off on some trivia.

Paul Adam — 38:06

Am I playing?

Colin Gerstner — 38:08

No—unless you want to, I guess.

Paul Adam — 38:10

No. Let our guests play.

Colin Gerstner — 38:12

Coveted prizes. Tremendous prizes.

Kori Keller — 38:15

Absolutely.

Colin Gerstner — 38:16

In some foreshadowing of the general theme, there are 13 questions.

Jeff Keller — 38:23

Holy cow!

Colin Gerstner — 38:24

First one to raise your hand.

Kori Keller — 38:26

Okay.

Colin Gerstner — 38:26

We’ll keep score.

Paul Adam — 38:28

Hands on the table, Jeff. Make sure we know who’s—

Colin Gerstner — 38:33

Are you going to keep score?

Paul Adam — 38:34

I’ll keep score.

Kori Keller — 38:35

Listen, we can’t play any board games. We can play nothing together because we’re too competitive.

Paul Adam — 38:41

Well, we’ll see how this goes.

Kori Keller — 38:42

Okay.

Paul Adam — 38:43

It might not be that competitive.

Colin Gerstner — 38:45

What is Taylor Swift’s middle name?

Jeff Keller — 38:49

Oh, for—

Kori Keller — 38:50

Alison.

Colin Gerstner — 38:51

Correct.

Paul Adam — 38:53

One-zero, Kori.

Colin Gerstner — 38:56

What year was Taylor Swift born?

Jeff Keller — 38:58

Oh, seriously.

Kori Keller — 38:59

Paul Adam — 39:01

Two-zero.

Jeff Keller — 39:01

How do you—

Kori Keller — 39:04

I’ve seen her in concert twice.

Colin Gerstner — 39:07

Who is the only pitcher to hit a grand slam in the World Series?

Jeff Keller — 39:16

I don’t know that one.

Kori Keller — 39:19

Babe Ruth.

Colin Gerstner — 39:20

Nope. Good guess.

Jeff Keller — 39:21

Is it—I mean, I would say Shohei. I don’t think he did it.

Kori Keller — 39:28

Is there an Ibarra guy?

Jeff Keller — 39:30

No. It could be Wainwright, but I don’t know.

Colin Gerstner — 39:35

No. Local legend—Dave McNally. The Baltimore Orioles. He had a grand slam.

Jeff Keller — 39:43

I didn’t know he was the only one to do that.

Kori Keller — 39:44

What year was that?

Jeff Keller — 39:46

That would have been with Baltimore.

Colin Gerstner — 39:47

Yep. I don’t know. Early ’60s, I guess. Maybe late ’50s.

Kori Keller — 39:50

Okay.

Colin Gerstner — 39:51

Question number four: What type of farm did Taylor Swift grow up on?

Kori Keller — 39:58

Christmas tree.

Colin Gerstner — 39:59

Christmas tree.

Paul Adam — 40:00

Crushing it.

Colin Gerstner — 40:01

Number five: What is Taylor Swift’s go-to drink order at the bar?

Jeff Keller — 40:10

Vodka.

Colin Gerstner — 40:12

I need the second half of that.

Kori Keller — 40:15

Lemonade.

Jeff Keller — 40:15

Diet Coke.

Colin Gerstner — 40:17

Did you just say Diet Coke?

Jeff Keller — 40:20

I did.

Paul Adam — 40:23

You are on the board.

Kori Keller — 40:24

I actually knew that.

Paul Adam — 40:26

Jeff is on the board.

Colin Gerstner — 40:30

Okay.

Paul Adam — 40:32

We’re marking it three-one.

Colin Gerstner — 40:32

Number six. Who won the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines?

Jeff Keller — 40:43

Oh my God!

Kori Keller — 40:43

Is this when you were there with him?

Colin Gerstner — 40:44

Yeah. Jeff, we saw this happen.

Jeff Keller — 40:46

I know.

Kori Keller — 40:48

I’m going to say Scottie.

Jeff Keller — 40:50

No.

Paul Adam — 40:50

Before we aired this, Colin said, “There’s no way Jeff remembers this.”

Jeff Keller — 40:54

We were in some tough shape. I do remember the golf ball I got from the guy who signed it—from Finland or wherever he was from.

Colin Gerstner — 41:04

Yeah, Højgaard, I think, from Denmark.

Jeff Keller — 41:06

Yeah. He had the umlaut, the little two dots on it. But I don’t know. I don’t remember.

Kori Keller — 41:12

You were there.

Jeff Keller — 41:14

I was in some shape that—

Kori Keller — 41:16

I was at the Taylor Swift concert too, and I remembered my question.

Colin Gerstner — 41:19

The answer is Matthieu Pavon.

We followed Stephan Jaeger around and yelled “Jaeger bomb” every time he had to drive. We’ve been trying very hard to get him on the podcast, but he’s not answering our DMs.

Paul Adam — 41:33

Yeah, that’s been mentioned a few times.

Colin Gerstner — 41:33

He’s our white whale. Someday we’ll get him on the pod.

Jeff Keller — 41:38

But I do remember Colin taking the first bourbon—

Colin Gerstner — 41:44

Moving on.

Jeff Keller — 41:48

Brandon was like, “Okay, here’s how you do bourbon.”

Colin Gerstner — 41:53

Number seven: Who was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2023?

Jeff Keller — 41:59

Taylor Swift.

Colin Gerstner — 42:00

Correct.

Paul Adam — 42:00

All right.

Jeff Keller — 42:01

That was a guess.

Colin Gerstner — 42:02

Comeback season.

Paul Adam — 42:04

All right, three-two.

Colin Gerstner — 42:05

Number eight: In the song “Sparks Fly,” what color eyes does Taylor Swift mention?

Jeff Keller — 42:14

Blue.

Colin Gerstner — 42:14

Nope.

Kori Keller — 42:16

Green.

Colin Gerstner — 42:17

Yes.

Paul Adam — 42:17

Yep.

Jeff Keller — 42:19

Is that a guess?

Colin Gerstner — 42:20

Can you sing it?

Kori Keller — 42:23

I’m trying to get it in my head so I can figure it out.

Paul Adam — 42:26

You’re playing the game now, Jeff. Just get that arm up. Get the hand raised.

Colin Gerstner — 42:30

All right, number nine. In her recent wedding to Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift did not have traditional bridesmaids. Instead, who was Taylor Swift’s man of honor?

Kori Keller — 42:41

Her brother Austin.

Colin Gerstner — 42:42

Correct.

Jeff Keller — 42:43

You didn’t raise your hand.

Kori Keller — 42:45

Her brother.

Colin Gerstner — 42:47

Number 10: What pair of brothers combined for the most home runs in their careers?

Kori Keller — 42:57

Oh, I know. Molinas.

Colin Gerstner — 43:00

Nope. Not a terrible guess.

Jeff Keller — 43:04

Boy, I can’t. I’m just drawing a blank on all the baseball stuff.

Paul Adam — 43:07

Give him a hint. Give him an era.

Colin Gerstner — 43:09

In the ’60s and ’70s, and they both played for the Braves. They were on the same team for a while.

Jeff Keller — 43:18

Dale Murphy played, but I don’t—the most home runs? Hank Aaron? I don’t know.

Paul Adam — 43:26

Oh, we’re going to give it to him. Just mention Hank.

Colin Gerstner — 43:28

Hank Aaron and his brother Tommy.

Jeff Keller — 43:30

Oh, okay.

Colin Gerstner — 43:31

Tommy had 13 home runs.

Jeff Keller — 43:32

I didn’t know that. I didn’t know Tommy was Hank’s brother.

Colin Gerstner — 43:35

Hank carried the weight in that.

Paul Adam — 43:38

Five-three. There’s still a chance, Jeff.

Kori Keller — 43:41

Okay.

Paul Adam — 43:41

Three questions left.

Jeff Keller — 43:42

I’ve got to get them all.

Colin Gerstner — 43:44

Number 11. Which one of these following words is not the name of a Taylor Swift album? Fearless, Reputation, Dramatic—

Kori Keller — 43:55

Dramatic.

Colin Gerstner — 43:58

Okay. And before I change the question, you know she’s named after James Taylor.

Kori Keller — 44:05

I did.

Colin Gerstner — 44:06

You did? Okay.

Kori Keller — 44:07

Well, she’s got those classic red lips, and he’s got that James Taylor style. It’s called “Style.” It’s a song.

Colin Gerstner — 44:14

Oh, I’m unfamiliar.

Number 12: What type of jewelry have fans been known to wear on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour?

Kori Keller — 44:25

Do you not know this?

Jeff Keller — 44:24

Let me give it a shot. Bracelets?

Colin Gerstner — 44:27

Oh, you didn’t let him finish.

Paul Adam — 44:38

We’re giving him the point, Kori.

Colin Gerstner — 44:42

Number 13. The Salt Lake Bees are the Triple-A affiliate for the Los Angeles Angels. Who holds the franchise record for home runs as a Bee?

Jeff Keller — 44:52

Jeez. For the Angels? It would be funny if it was Rod Carew or something like that.

Colin Gerstner — 45:06

Our mutual friend Brandon Wood.

Jeff Keller — 45:09

Oh, really?

Paul Adam — 45:10

Look at that!

Colin Gerstner — 45:11

The career home run record for the Salt Lake Bees.

Kori Keller — 45:14

Oh, that’s cool.

Jeff Keller — 45:15

That’s cool.

Paul Adam — 45:16

And the winner, six to four, Kori Keller. You get your choice—you get all the prizes.

Kori Keller — 45:23

I know how good these are because I have them in pink.

Colin Gerstner — 45:28

Those are better made. The lens will pop out of this one.

Kori Keller — 45:32

Oh, that’s okay.

Paul Adam — 45:33

They snap right back in, though.

Colin Gerstner — 45:34

Yeah, they do. No problem. Easy to pop in.

Kori Keller — 45:36

Love it.

Jeff Keller — 45:37

Do you guys know where The Sandlot was originally filmed? Like the movie—where that is actually located?

Paul Adam — 45:43

L.A.?

Jeff Keller — 45:47

That’s where the Bees are at.

Colin Gerstner — 45:48

Salt Lake? Really?

Paul Adam — 45:49

Oh, yeah.

Colin Gerstner — 45:50

I didn’t know that.

Jeff Keller — 45:50

Yeah.

Paul Adam — 45:52

That’s good trivia.

Jeff Keller — 45:53

I didn’t know that. Travis went there and saw it on the way back from Mesquite.

Colin Gerstner — 45:56

Really?

Paul Adam — 45:58

Well, thank you guys for coming in and talking about a tough topic. We really appreciate you sharing a pretty intimate story.

Kori Keller — 46:06

Thanks for having us.

Paul Adam — 46:07

Really powerful stuff.

Jeff Keller — 46:08

Absolutely. It’s our honor to be here.

Colin Gerstner — 46:10

Maybe you guys will be our first recurring guests.

You’ve got other events, and eventually people stop answering our texts and refuse to come on the show, so we’ll have to bring you guys back—maybe for the run or next year’s Pink Tie.

Paul Adam — 46:22

Yeah. Love it.

Jeff Keller — 46:23

Yeah, happy to do it. We’ll share the heck out of it, and our followers will definitely share this video too.

Paul Adam — 46:32

Great. Well, good luck at the Pink Tie Affair.

Kori Keller — 46:35

Thank you.

Paul Adam — 46:36

Thank you to everyone who’s listening. Bye for now.

For more conversations from Paul and Colin, visit the Off the Record podcast.

Colin Gerstner — 46:38

Stay blessed.