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Community Corner

Redding Roasters: Keeping Bill's memory alive

Daughter takes over popular Redding Roasters Coffee Company after owner dies

Kaitlyn Heisler always knew that eventually, she and her husband Brad Heisler would inherit her father’s business—Redding Roasters Coffee Company, at 81 Greenwood Avenue in Bethel.  She just didn’t think it would be so soon.

In April, Heisler’s father Bill O’Keefe passed away suddenly in his sleep from a heart attack.  He was only 53 years old. 

Kaitlyn Heisler said while her father’s loss was terrible for her family, it was just as devastating for the Bethel community.  “Everyone who came into the store—when I told them about his death—was in tears.  He was
everyone’s friend,” said Heisler, 23, of Ansonia.

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“No one would just come in here to get a pound of coffee.  They would come in to relax and chat for a long time,” she said.

O'Keefe, who lived in the apartment directly upstairs from his store, grew up in Massachusetts.  He held many different jobs before going into the roasting business, according to his daughter.

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“He was a potter’s apprentice, assembled wheelchairs, worked in a dark room, and was in the graphic design business.  He also worked at a suicide crises hotline,” she said.

He opened Redding Roasters in 2004, at a time when he was living in Redding, which explains how the business’ name originated.  The business roasts all its own coffee on the premises.  It also roasts coffees imported from places around the world such as Yemen, Ethiopia, and Uganda; and
makes custom blends for customers.

Redding Roasters’ coffee is sold in over a dozen local eateries and other venues, such as Daily Fare, O’Neil’s Sandwich and Coffee Bar, and
Holbrook Farm Market & Bakery, which are all in Bethel.

Kaitlyn Heisler said while the business was never a huge moneymaker, “my dad didn’t care about profit.  He just wanted to be around his
family and friends,” she said.

Kaitlyn Heisler said O’Keefe, who is divorced, raised her.  “I grew up with him.  I was always by his side,” said Heisler, who has a 4-year-old daughter named Kadence. Heisler worked on the retail end of Redding Roasters since she was 19.

Aside from Redding Roasters, the Heislers are also owners of Captain’s Catch Seafood Restaurant in Milford.

Prior to his death, O’Keefe taught Brad Heisler everything about his business and the art of roasting—and Brad taught his wife.  “This enabled my wife and I to pick up literally right where he had left off.  It was a seamless transition.  We didn’t need to close one day,” said Brad Heisler, who is 27.

The Heislers said they have no plans to change the business in any way. 

“Bill was very thorough. He wanted everything to be exact. By working with him, I learned the roasting business is a science as much as it is a job,” Brad Heisler said.

Long-time friends Eric and Brooke Heinen of Bethel said they met O’Keefe the day they moved to Bethel seven years ago, and he was their friend right from the beginning.

“Being coffee lovers, we went into the store to check it out.  We walked in for a two-minute tour and a catalogue, and we left one and a half hours later.  Bill was never short on words,” Eric Heinen said.

“Bill was one of the last great guys.  He had an ability to see things clearly that other people couldn’t.  He gave great advice, and he would do anything within his power to help people,” he added.

Eric Heinen said he’ll never forget what Bill did for him and his wife on Labor Day weekend in 2007. “My wife was pregnant with our first child and her water broke.  I was at least three hours away.  I called Bill at the store.  After hanging up with me, he closed the business for the rest of that day and sat with my wife for almost four hours until I was able to get home,” he said.

John Fulton Matta of Bethel knew O’Keefe for 25 years.  “Bill was a dear friend.  We shared many laughs together.  We could look at each other and not have to say too much, since we knew what the other one was thinking,” said Matta, who is the owner of John Fulton Diamond Jewelers in Bethel.

“Life is short,” Matta said. “I loved Billy dearly.  He was a keeper.”

 

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