News Photos by Darby HinkleyThis sunny yellow flower blooms on a squash plant. Squash is Keith Titus’s favorite vegetable.

ALPENA — A contented old man sits in his well-watered garden, admiring his hundreds of plants and reminiscing about the late love of his life.

The man is not physically well. But his heart is full. He has lived a good life and he is right with the Lord. He is not afraid of the day he will once again see his beautiful bride.

Keith Titus has accomplished a lot in his 82 years, four decades of which he spent with his wife Ginny Titus, who passed away March 24 after a terminal battle with cancer. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on social gatherings, a funeral was postponed at that time.

Ginny, knowing her days were numbered, peacefully planned her own celebration of life service, which will be held at noon on Saturday, July 31 at the First Congregational Church of Alpena.

“They’re all really fine musicians that Ginny chose to do particular things,” Keith said, pointing to the program list. “She wrote this when she was in seminary. We decided not to do a funeral, as they’re usually thought of, rather, it’s a celebration of her life.”

Keith Titus speeds around his garden, pointing out various plants amongst the artwork created by his late wife.

Following the service, friends, family and “interested passersby,” in Keith’s words, are welcome to a reception at the Titus’s plentiful garden on the corner of 1st Avenue and Dunbar Street.

Fittingly, “‘Posthumous’ is what we call it,” Keith said of the garden, which they have tended for over five years, with his daughter and son-in-law Dana and Rob Barnhardt, and their son Owen.

“Primarily, it’s my son-in-law,” he said of the garden care. “I do what I can, but it’s not very much anymore.”

Much like the Tituses’ hearts for humanity, the garden is overflowing with life.

On Monday, Keith sped around the lumpy garden in his motorized wheelchair so quickly that this reporter had to hop out of the way more than once to keep her toes intact. The man had a plan, and that was to give a tour of the garden, which features 30 raised beds, the perfect height for him to reach while in his wheelchair.

Above is a bench adorned with the saying, “Garden as if you’re going to live forever,” painted by the late Ginny Titus.

What’s in the garden?

“You name it,” he said.

Nearly every vegetable you’ve heard of, and some that you haven’t, fruit trees, a bright variety of flowers, and more overtake your senses, row by row.

Even just driving by the garden, facial expressions ensue. Whether it’s a furrowed brow, wondering what the heck you’re looking at, or a smile as you ingest all the colorful artwork adorning the fence and throughout the garden, you’d have to be oblivious to not be intrigued by this overabundance of cheer. As you approach the entry gate, you somehow feel the love permeating from inside the fence. It’s impossible to not be blessed once you step inside. That’s thanks to Ginny and Keith’s shared love of making people smile.

“I find it part of my spirituality,” Keith said in his deep, slow, gentle voice. “The cyclical nature of ourselves, and food that we put into our bodies, and how we care for it. I have some really negative feelings about how the food industry has ended up adulterating the food that we eat, so I feel very strongly about how important it is to garden, and to raise critters.”

A colorful bottle tree shines in the sunlight in “Posthumous,” the garden on the corner of 1st Avenue and Dunbar Street in Alpena, cared for by Keith Titus and family.

Although she has left the physical world, Ginny’s artwork lives on in the garden, as well as a tree planted in her memory, which will be dedicated at the July 31 reception.

When asked what kind of tree it is, Keith said, “It’s red,” tossing his hands up for lack of a scientific name.

Keith and Ginny moved to their 1st Avenue home, next to the Barnhardts, about five years ago.

“When we moved here, I had had a garden every place I’ve lived, so this has really been my salvation,” Keith said. “This has been a saving grace for me to be able to get my hands in the dirt.”

Both ordained ministers, the Tituses used to head up a couples’ retreat called “Marriage Encounter.”

Prior to coming to Alpena, Ginny pastored a church in Atlanta. Years before that, the Tituses spent time on an American Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Keith started the Thunder Bay Theatre in 1966, and ran it for 20 years.

They both enjoyed performing both spoken word and song together.

Ginny and her cancer had one thing in common — they were exceptionally rare — as rare as one in a million.

Ginny’s zest for life and abundant love for others showed through on a daily basis, as she shared her artwork, volunteered her time, and eased tensions just by walking into a room. She was a peaceful being.

Keith Titus poses in the garden next to some of the artwork created by his late wife, Ginny Titus.

“She died beautifully,” Keith said with a slight tremor in his voice, “which was typical of her. She was sort of model for the rest of the family because what she kept saying was, ‘I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had the opportunity to do all sorts of wild and wonderful things, and a great love. How can I complain?'”

While Ginny succumbed to a rare appendiceal cancer, Keith recently found out he has a different kind of cancer.

“So now, I’m in pretty much the same situation,” Keith said. “And I’m able to say pretty much the same thing. I have many illnesses. The cancer is the one that probably will take me, but who knows? I have bone cancer, which is not my favorite one. But it started with prostate cancer, and when they discovered it, it already had metastasized to the bone.”

He found out about a month-and-a-half ago.

“I went to the hospital for something else, and they discovered that,” he said of the cancer.

When the natural reaction, “Oh, I’m sorry,” came out of this reporter’s mouth, Keith responded, “Oh, hey, don’t be. I couldn’t ask for more. It would be selfish of me. I’ve had 82 years, and have had a wonderful time.”

In high school, he recalled that his English teacher had them write about the three things they wanted to be when they grew up.

“I wanted to be: a priest was number one, a singer was number two, an actor was number three, and I’ve had a chance to do all of them,” Keith said. “Plus, I ended up on the reservation with some marvelous people who taught me a great deal about how to go about being a human being.”

That was on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

“It’s where ‘Wounded Knee’ took place,” he said. “There’s a cemetery there, and across from it there’s a huge sign that used to say ‘The Battle of Wounded Knee,’ but finally, was changed to ‘The Massacre at Wounded Knee,’ because that’s what it was.”

The couple lived there for 10 years, from the time they graduated from seminary in 1997 to 2007.

Keith is originally from Alpena, living here since he was 6 years old. He taught speech communication class at Alpena Community College for nearly 30 years, from 1966 to 1995. He was an Alpena County Commissioner for three terms.

He recalled the day he asked Ginny to marry him.

“I just walked in one day and said, ‘Hey Gin? You wanna get married?’ And she laughed and said, ‘Yeah. When?’ And I said, ‘How about this afternoon?'”

They wed on Nov. 22, 1982.

“My favorite thing about Ginny was she was the most honest person I’ve ever met,” he added, “which was a real pain in the ass sometimes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He is looking forward to July 31.

“We’ll stay till all hours, telling Ginny stories, and singin’ music, and telling jokes,” he said with a smile.

This sign created by Ginny Titus sits atop the roof of the potting shed. It reads, “I pledge allegiance to the world, to care for earth, sea and air, to cherish every living thing, with peace and justice everywhere.”

This tree was planted in memory of the late Ginny Titus in the garden called “Posthumous,” cared for by the Titus and Barnhardt families.

The late Ginny Titus created these whimsical signs that bring cheerful flair to the garden.