Alzheimer's Awareness Month 2025: Meet Fred

When Fred and Rosie Keating decided to move their family from Edmonton to Maple Ridge, Rosie had one stipulation: a low-maintenance yard with no raspberry bushes. Fred delivered, finding a beautiful house above a creek with a stunning view of Golden Ears Park. He called Rosie to let her know that he had kept his promise – no raspberry bushes.

There were, however, blackberry bushes. Everywhere.

35 years later, the blackberry bushes have long since been eradicated. Fred and Rosie agree the home was a wonderful place to raise their now adult children, Jack and Katie. It’s also where Fred would have a small office and voice studio, where, as an actor he did voiceover work and auditions.

Fred is a prolific actor with long-running roles in shows like Jake and the Kid, Da Vinci’s Inquest and Da Vinci’s City Hall, as well as appearing in other well-known productions like Supernatural, The X-Files, Final Destination, Air Bud and quite a number of Hallmark movies.

Acting requires memorization but Fred is keenly aware that his memory isn’t quite what it used to be. Fred was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment in 2022.

“The kids were both here, the ‘fearsome foursome’ back together,” Fred says. “Friday night, I ask what they want to do on Saturday. We make a plan and go to bed. In the morning, they’re all sitting around the table and I ask, ‘So, what do you want to do today?’ The kids looked at me like I was joking.”

“Rosie asked them, ‘Do you see what I’m talking about?’ Then she leaned over to me and said, ‘Now will you go see someone?’ That was my recollection of when the penny dropped. The funny thing? Not one of them remembers this incident that is so pivotal to my story.”

MCI involves challenges with memory, language, thinking and judgement and often increases your risk for Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia. While Fred was initially hesitant to consider dementia, Rosie, a retired special education teacher, had a notion and started educating herself by calling the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s First Link® Dementia Helpline. Armed with resources, Rosie was prepared and advocated for testing.

“I had been connected to the Alzheimer Society of B.C. for a long time. I suspected we were going to need some help,” Rosie says. “They were a big support in helping me talk to our family doctor.”

As Fred adjusted to the diagnosis, he began watching webinars with Rosie. A panel discussion featuring people with lived experience of dementia sharing their own stories was especially resonant.

“It was a pivotal moment for me,” Fred says. “I watched these guys joke with each other. One of them had a word retrieval issue and the other one goes, ‘Spit it out!’”

Fred could see himself in the panelists. Witnessing the camaraderie and acceptance they showed one another moved him to participate in First Link® programs, including “Shaping the journey” a dementia education series for people who have recently been diagnosed. While discussing Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief, Fred noticed something missing from the list: guilt.

“I feel guilty about not being the husband, father and friend that I once was. If there’s one thing that’s stuck in my craw, it’s the loss of who I had been.” Fred has not allowed the grief to take over his life, choosing to embrace this next phase, using his shining personality and years in show business to dispel dementia myths and uplift other people on the journey. He recently collaborated with Kim McKercher, through the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s Lived Experience Partner Program to create a presentation called “Making lemonade’”.

“As in, ‘When life gives you lemons...’”

For many years, Fred hosted conferences for corporate, government and non-profit organizations. This past year, he noticed changes that led him to step back from the spotlight.

“The audience management and the quick retorts weren’t an issue,” Fred says. “But when I stepped off the stage, I felt more tired than I used to.”

Despite these changes, the relationships Fred has nurtured over the years are strong. For one client, Fred’s presence at their 50th anniversary is a non-negotiable. Rather than host, Fred has been invited back to present “Making lemonade” and share his experience at their ‘Lunch ‘n’ Learn’ session.

Fred’s rock-solid relationships are present throughout his entire community. For a man who has travelled the world, stood on the porch of Robert W. Service’s cabin and worked with the likes of Bob Newhart, John Candy, Eugene Levy and Doctor Jane Goodall, Fred Keating is unbelievably down-to-earth. Whether he is pointing out the sights around beautiful Maple Ridge or treating new friends to hot fries at Bobby Sox Diner, Fred’s generosity is as big as his personality.