When the school closed its last chapter in 1968 as St. Joe Prep School, Donald Keene had been graduated from those hallowed halls for 30 years.

After graduation from high school he served as technical sergeant in World War II, serving as radio operator gunman on B-26's in the ETO. After his stint in the armed services he retuned to Bardstown and embarked on a career in the liquor business as salesman and stockholder in the House of Nelson Wholesale Liquors, and then went on to become a businessman of notable success as president of Spank Oil Company, a wholesale gas and oil business, president of the Kentucky Petroleum Dealers and a partner in G.H. Padgett Co., a real estate development business.

A devoted husband of the former Emily Rae Mathews and father of two he also found time to serve his community as:

In 1993 he was selected as Bardstown/Nelson County Chamber of Commerce "Citizen of the Year".

His most personal satisfaction has come from working at Spalding Hall. His solid work ethic, coupled with total commitment and sacrifice, has kept him working, without pay, for 20+ years to see that Spalding Hall would continue to be a credit to the city, county, and state of Kentucky.

To name a few of the events Mr. Keene and his staff have helped to promote are:

All of the above time is just a smattering of the real work done by Mr. Keene in promotion of two museums in Spalding Hall, the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History with international appeal and the Bardstown Historical Museum. Using his energies, cooperative spirit and financial expertise, he has brought these two collections to be a recognized financially stable place in Bardstown.

While helping to promote these and other community events Mr. Keene never neglects the maintenance of the old historical building, realizing what it means to the community as a tourist attraction. After the departure of the Xaverian Brothers, this largest building in Nelson County was disgracefully vandalized, causing even the boarding of the windows and doors. Unguarded and vulnerable, the building sat forlorn and waiting for another purpose. At the forefront of any preservation is the problem of money. The task of such proportion fell to the first board, of which Mr. Keene was vice-chairman. Under their direction, the initial step toward revitalization began with the opening of LaTaberna Restaurant and a short time later, the Jim Cantrell Art Gallery. The Cantrell family moved to Bardstown from Berea College, maintaining an artist-in-residence status and bringing their two children to live in the second story of the building. Since those early years, Jim has gained national recognition in the art field and has developed the nation's largest repository of Thomas Merton books and tapes.

Then followed the Bardstown Historical Museum in 1973 as a tourist attraction. The people of this county at large have generously supported and enriched the museum with family pieces and historical artifacts to where it is now a compliment to the Spalding Hall setting.

Many people have memories of the Brown School of Dance which was active for nine years in Spalding Hall and a renter on the third floor. Through the past 20 years the rental of the Hall has been a major monetary factor stabilizing the building.

A 1983 new lifeline arrived with the gift of the Getz family of Chicago and the introduction to Spalding Hall of the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. It had been housed since the late 1950s at the Barton Distilling Company. Mrs. Emma Getz presented the people of Bardstown with her husband's 50 year collection of distilling history and artifacts. Since that date more than 300,000 people have visited this museum from around the United States and the world. In 1992, 43,000 people visited, second in Bardstown to My Old Kentucky Home. Donald Keene joined with the Getz family in establishing and energizing the Whiskey History Museum. Due in great part to Donald's vision and dedication over these past 20+ years, Spalding Hall is now a building proud of its past and present and one steady and confident in the future.

In the mid 1980's the building was air conditioned, a new heating plant installed, copper drainage system added, the laying of the old brick walkway, and a major face-lift took place throughout the entire structure.