Jim McKeever Cancer Benefit Planned Friday At Reilly's Daughter

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- He’s the first guy to help a neighbor when times are tough, organize a golf outing to raise scholarship money, or serve on a civic committee. Now he’s in the fight of his life. Jim McKeever, an Evergreen Park resident and probation officer for Cook County, is battling Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He underwent a stem cell transfusion this week and will be hospitalized until the end of June.

This Friday, June 1, from 5 to 8 p.m., Reilly’s Daughter in Oak Lawn will donating 100-percent of all food purchases to Jim and his wife, Peggy, to ease some of their financial worries. While there is nothing Jim loves more than a party with family and friends, he unfortunately cannot attend but he’ll be there in spirit. Raffles, split-the-pot and much more will be featured. Live music will be provided by Liam Durkin, who is donating his time.

McKeever grew up in Mt. Greenwood, attending Queen of Martyrs and Brother Rice High School. He didn’t stray far from the neighborhood when it was time to go to college, graduating with a criminal justice degree from Saint Xavier University. He’s organized the toy drives and a golf outing for the Kevin Dowling Scholarship Fund, and is a member of the Evergreen Park Knights of Columbus andserves on the South Side Irish Parade committee. In July 2016, McKeever was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He fought back and the cancer went away. While undergoing treatment, McKeever managed to organize a benefit at the Red Palm in Evergreen Park for Christmas Without Cancer, a grassroots organization that provides Christmas gifts and short-term financial relief to families impacted by cancer.

“My dad is a huge fan of Christmas,” McKeever’s son Patrick said. “When he was first diagnosed He wanted to turn it into a more positive thing, so he reached out to Christmas Without Cancer. He asked how he could help but they wanted to help him. That’s not what he wanted.

This past March a post-treatment scan showed that the cancer had returned. McKeever banked his own stem cells for a transfusion after receiving high-dose chemo treatments at Northwestern Hospital.
Illness and tragedy have hit his extended family hard over the past several decades. In August 1995, his brother-in-law Kevin Dowling collapsed during football practice at Mt. Carmel High School, dying several days later of heat stroke. His young nephew, Beau Dowling, who just turned three, has undergone painful treatments for neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that affects young children. As Beau undergoes post-treatment scans, Beau's family is also asking for special prayers for his Uncle Jim.