Keith Thorpe

Keith Thorpe, a longtime photojournalist, writer, and videographer for the Peninsula Daily News, died March 5, 2026, of complications from cancer. He was 67.

Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Thorpe spent his youth in Prairie Village and Overland Park before moving to Colorado in his late teens. He returned to Kansas to study journalism at Kansas City Kansas Community College and the University of Kansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from the William Allen White School of Journalism. His career began at the Atchison Daily Globe, where he received the Victor Murdock Medallion for excellence in investigative reporting, the highest honor from the Kansas Press Association. He later worked at the Mitchell Daily Republic in South Dakota, earning multiple photo awards from the South Dakota Associated Press, and as a reporter and photographer for The Daily Nonpareil in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In 1996, he moved to Port Angeles and spent the remainder of his career with the Peninsula Daily News, covering local, national, and international stories. His work also appeared nationally and internationally through The Associated Press and other global news services.

Beyond journalism, Thorpe was an avid homebrewer and longtime member of a local homebrewers club. He crafted special batches each year for sampling at PDN gardening columnist Andrew May’s annual Corn Roast, a tradition that grew in popularity among local brewers. He also maintained a keen interest in tracking weather events, often lending his knowledge in the newsroom while keeping an ear tuned to the police scanner. An enthusiastic traveler, he documented his journeys with photographs and humor on his website, Lunchandsnack.com.

Thorpe is survived by his wife, Kristie Stacey of Port Angeles; stepson Quinn Stacey; three sisters, Margaret Foss of Kansas City, Kansas, Katherine Powers of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Elizabeth (Eric) Yeomans of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; aunt Priscilla Skinner of Kansas City, Kansas; and numerous nieces, nephews, and great-nephews. A Celebration of Life is planned for his birthday, June 13, at 483 Westridge Road in Port Angeles. The casual potluck gathering will begin at 1 p.m., with guests encouraged to bring a favorite dish and share their favorite memories of him.