James “Keith or 3” Councell (Class of 2003) is from Flint, MI, and currently works in the
Gyrus ACMI division of Olympus in Memphis, TN, where he works as a Supplier Quality
Engineer in the medical device field. He actually just found out that he is being promoted to
Senior Supplier Quality Engineer! Congratulations! Keith’s career path started as a Mechanical
Engineering Co-Op at Newcor-Rochester Gear, Inc in Clifford, MI. Upon graduating from
Kettering, he took a job as a Quality Engineer at Webasto Roof Systems in Rochester Hills, MI,
where his manager, Ed Kiell (Class of 2002), also happened to be his Big Brother! Needless to
say, it was an interesting relationship at work! After nearly two years at Webasto, he moved to
Benteler Automotive in Opelika, AL, where he worked as a Senior Quality Engineer supporting
the Mercedes M- and R-Class front-axle sub-frame weld/assembly line for about 9 months.
Then, for the 3 years before he started working for Olympus, he worked at Johnson Outdoors in
Eufaula, AL, as a Quality Engineer for their Humminbird line of fishfinders and sonar products.
In July 2009, he moved to Olympus where he is employed now. Keith Enjoys spending his free
time sailing Lighting in the summer and S2 7.9 in the winter. His crew wins often in the S2 7.9
and less often in the Lighting. Also, he recently was married to his wife, Gabriela, on October
22. Congratulations! He admits that his original reason to join FIJI wasn’t a great one, he saw it
as a place to stay away from home, but soon after joining, he got to know the people in the house
really well and loved spending time with them. So what was a decision based on bad reasoning
turned into the best decision of his life. Since the house size was relatively small during in his
time as an undergrad, he had to serve many different jobs. He was Comptroller, Treasurer,
Recording Secretary, Recruitment Chair, Asst. Recruitment Chair, Pledge Educator, Asst. Pledge
Educator, Steward, IFC Treasurer, House Manager, and was in charge of the house’s dog,
Maggie. He has many fond memories of the house, including re-doing the Pledge Program,
picking up the new house dog Mac, renovating the Membership Room when the pipe broke and
flooded the room, rebuilding the Crib Room shelves, and playing pranks on the “Wads” (Phi
Delta Theta). He was also part of the 2nd to the last class to spend “Hellweek” in the Hole.
Being a worm helped him learn to stand up for himself and being unified with his pledge
brothers. Since graduating, he has helped FIJI by being a part of the BCA with Kettering for the
first year of its new existence and served as Pledge educator for the Re-organization of B
section. Due to difficulties with being so far away from Flint, he resigned and to became
involved with the BCA of the Mu Tau Chapter at University of Memphis. He recently finished
writing a history book of the Alpha Gamma Chapter at Kettering University (with the help of Ed
Kiell) and participates in the IHQ’s Archive Weekend. FIJI helped him grow and develop and
he is even more invested in the values of Phi Gamma Delta today than he ever was as an
undergrad. We are proud to call men like Keith our brother!