Career
McKeon died at the age of 63 in Springfield, Illinois, after suffering a stroke. He held degrees from California State University at Los Angeles and completed some doctoral work at the University of Chicago. A veteran of the United States Army, McKeon had been a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff"s Department before moving to Chicago.
McKeon was elected to the House in 1996 from a Chicago district then-numbered the 34th and was sworn in the following January.
He served on the committees on Labor, Aging, and several other subjects. During the 2002 redistricting, his district became the 13th.
McKeon was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1997. In July 2006, he announced his intention to retire from the legislature at the end of his term in January 2007.
They selected the openly gay (and openly Human Immunodeficiency Virus-positive) Greg Harris.