A graduate of the University of Maine School of Law and licensed in Maine.
Attorney Ardith Keef is a member of:
The Maine Bar Association
The American Bar Association
Maine Trial Lawyer Association
Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Eastman School of Music.
Currently professor at the University of Southern Maine.
Member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra.
Member of Maine Chamber Ensemble.
Founder of the Portland Chamber Orchestra
Daughter of missionary parents (Central American Missions-Mexico)
Ardith Keef has donated hundreds of pro bono hours in extremely difficult legal cases. Some cases have involved rescuing children from abuse and others have been uniting parents with children who have been withheld from them. She has worked pro bono on behalf of missionaries who could never afford a lawyer.
In 1992 Ardith Keef started a small craft store to help support people needing employment, to support their crafts and to provide a local outlet for the sale of various Christian books and Bibles. To date Ardith Keef has been instrumental in sending much needed financial support as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars worth o medical supplies and medicines to support an Australian missionary surgeon working with SIM in Ethiopia. Another project was providing medical supplies to a jungle clinic in Ecuador. All of Ardith’s trips abroad have been self financed, and she has often hand carried vital medicines at risk to her own life, to bring life giving support to others.
From the love for her missionary father and his example as an outstanding Greek and Hebrew scholar, Ardith Keef's inspirational friendship over the years with Elizabeth Elliot, and the love and joy of reading the writings of Amy Carmichael, Ardith Keef began authoring her own daily devotional message in the fall of 1999 for the purpose of encouraging women. Ardith Keef often times counsels with missionary women who have suffered under the weight of living in difficult circumstances while trying to raise children and support husbands in the field. In hopes of sending whatever support she could muster, she has traveled through many countries seeking missionaries from various walks of life and backgrounds, in order to discover their needs. In some cases she has traveled with her bassoon, just to provide the comfort of a glorious Bach piece in the midst of an otherwise culture-starved environment. In 1992 during a visit to Kathmandu, Nepal Ardith Keef was asked to perform at the memorial service for the downed passengers of a Thai Airbus A-300, the largest aircraft incident in the history of Nepal. Surrounded by dignitaries and mourning families she played the sweet melody of Amazing Grace which typifies her love for God and compassion for others. From chocolate to Bach, peanut butter to medicines and medical supplies, Ardith Keef has been and always will be the staunch supporter of those in need.