Michael and Brandon 7: Lying Low in Batesville

[Kiki03910]

Hmmm...

https://news.yahoo.com/news/eldest-daughter-syndrome-real-thing-104507937.html

[RebeccaRay]

Heather Dauer Keilen, oldest Keilen brothers wife was killed in a accident recently over st Patrick's day.

Edited March 18 by RebeccaRay
Correction of date

[HereticHick]

30 minutes ago, RebeccaRay said:

Heather Dauer Keilen, oldest Keilen brothers wife was killed in a accident recently over st Patrick's day.

Would you mind sharing a source?

[VBOY9977]

3 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Would you mind sharing a source?

Her daughters Kensington and Kardigan both posted tributes to her on ig. It seems like they had a difficult relationship with their mom. I’m not sure about the accident source though

[RebeccaRay]

34 minutes ago, HereticHick said:

Would you mind sharing a source?

Her children have shared and 2 people tagged her in their Facebook posts

[JDuggs]

Heather’s friend’s Facebook post. It’s sad that she was estranged from one, possibly more, of her kids. When her friend describes her so lovingly, it’s hard to understand the disconnect with her kids, but I understand that it’s possible.

Spoiler

 

[raayx01]

5 hours ago, JDuggs said:

Heather’s friend’s Facebook post. It’s sad that she was estranged from one, possibly more, of her kids. When her friend describes her so lovingly, it’s hard to understand the disconnect with her kids, but I understand that it’s possible.

  Hide contents

 

She was estranged from her kids?

[sleepygirl1]

Both of these are public so I think they are okay to share. Sad.

[AussieKrissy]

On 3/19/2024 at 7:48 AM, VBOY9977 said:

Her daughters Kensington and Kardigan both posted tributes to her on ig. It seems like they had a difficult relationship with their mom. I’m not sure about the accident source though

Kardigan as in a piece of clothing?

I would have a difficult relationship with my mum if she named me that too 

[JDuggs]

Brandon’s  sister-in-law’s (or maybe ex-SIL’s) death made me deep dive into the Keilens. Since Brandon has nine siblings, I thought that he’d have tons of nieces and nephews, but there are only four, plus some stepnieces and nephews. Four of his sisters in their 30s and 40s are single. His two married sisters don’t have biological children. His three brothers are (or were) married, but only two have children. Somehow I hope it helps in Michael and Brandon’s fertility struggles to have so many family members that also haven’t been blessed with kids.

I always thought that Brandon’s family was IBLP since Brandon worked for it. Although they were quiverfull homeschoolers, the family seems not overly fundy.

[front hugs > duggs]

As someone who lost her mother to cancer and also had a difficult relationship with her, Kensi’s message really resonates with me. I hope she’s at peace with everything. How tragic. 
 

I think I had some friends who assumed my mom’s death wasn’t hard on me because of our difficult relationship. At the time, I felt very much alone in my grief because it felt I wasn’t entitled to it. 

[nvmbr02]

39 minutes ago, front hugs > duggs said:

As someone who lost her mother to cancer and also had a difficult relationship with her, Kensi’s message really resonates with me. I hope she’s at peace with everything. How tragic. 
 

I think I had some friends who assumed my mom’s death wasn’t hard on me because of our difficult relationship. At the time, I felt very much alone in my grief because it felt I wasn’t entitled to it. 

I wasn't close to my mom either and really struggled when she died. Someone told me that in a way it is even harder to lose a parent or sibling that you don't have a good relationship with since you mourn both the loss of the person and the relationship you wanted to have but didn't. I can't say if it is harder exactly as I think it is always hard to lose someone you have strong ties with no matter the state of your relationship.

[Melissa1977]

5 hours ago, JDuggs said:

always thought that Brandon’s family was IBLP since Brandon worked for it. Although they were quiverfull homeschoolers, the family seems not overly fundy.

I think Brandon parents were very deep into IBLP. If some of their children became less fundie, good for them.

The message of Kensi is heartbreaking, but sounds as if she had gone to therapy and had already forgiven a mother who (I assume) gave her a hard childhood. It takes courage to break and to heal and even more courage to forgive.

[CaptainFunderpants]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:05 PM, GreenBeans said:

I’m surprised they are letting the boys do that. One made a jar in Barbie pink. The boys look like they are enjoying the crafting, so good for them, but I would have thought the activiy is not “manly” enough by Bates standards.

The jars were for female relatives for Valentine's Day, and the guys were hesitant to use the pinks initially but when they re-dipped them seemed to realize that bright colors would work better on the clear jars.

As a crafter, I relate to their amazement when a color palette I don't necessarily like ends up working fantastically for a given project.

 

[dawn9476]

Yeah. I think some of his siblings when are not that into IB:P. When Brandon and Michael got engaged, it was his older sister that lived on her own in DC that helped him with the proposal.

[dawn9476]

The friend in that one post said that Heather was her friend for 50 years, so I am going to assume that Heather was in her 50's and so is Kelton's brother. My guess is that they were deep into IBLP and it caused the estrangement between them and their parents. I am sure they are estranged from their dad, too. Are Kardigan and/or Kensigston married? Because as we have seen with others, getting married, especially to someone outside IBLP, can open your eyes.

ETAL According to Bates family wiki, Heather was 52 while Brandon's brother Ronald is 46. They have 3 kids. Kensington is the oldest at 22. Kardigan is 19. Keaton is 16.

I think it was Brandon's older sister Angela that helped out with the proposal in DC. She wasn't married at the time. She got married in 2020 at 45

 

Edited March 22 by dawn9476

[dawn9476]

Bates Wiki seems to have info on the Keilen family. According to his page, Brandon's brother Brent is a VP at the Family Research Council Action. He's been married for 7 years but no kids yet.

https://batesfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Brent_Keilen

https://www.frc.org/biography/brent-keilen

And he must work remotely and not in DC since they have him living here in Michigan.

[llucie]

I dont know about the parents, but the girls dont seem fundie at all. Kardigan has pictures in a bikini and they seem to live pretty normal lifes.

Most of the Keilen siblings dont seem fundie anymore. Maybe because they didnt hurry to marry and have kids this has allowed them to explore other things in life. The exception would be Brent and Brandon, and their sister Alison maybe.

[HereticHick]

15 minutes ago, llucie said:

I dont know about the parents, but the girls dont seem fundie at all. Kardigan has pictures in a bikini and they seem to live pretty normal lifes.

Most of the Keilen siblings dont seem fundie anymore. Maybe because they didnt hurry to marry and have kids this has allowed them to explore other things in life. The exception would be Brent and Brandon, and their sister Alison maybe.

My brain doesn't think "Kardigan" and "bikini" should be in the same sentence!  : )

[Howl]

On 3/19/2024 at 6:25 AM, sleepygirl1 said:

Both of these are public so I think they are okay to share. Sad.

In the hospital with a newborn, absolutely perfect hair, eyebrows, mascara, flawless eye shadow, just the right amont of lipstick. What the heck is up with that? 

Kensi, wishing you have comfort in your grief. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I agree that a lot of the Keilen siblings don’t seem fundie. 
 

I am still unsure of Heather’s parentage. I wonder if she is the older sister of Cooper Dauer. If she is, she is likely not in contact with her family of origin. The Dauers are friends with the Duggars. And Cooper Dauer seems like he’s still fundie but he hasn’t posted much on social media in the last few years. 

[RebeccaRay]

9 hours ago, dawn9476 said:

Bates Wiki seems to have info on the Keilen family. According to his page, Brandon's brother Brent is a VP at the Family Research Council Action. He's been married for 7 years but no kids yet.

https://batesfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Brent_Keilen

https://www.frc.org/biography/brent-keilen

And he must work remotely and not in DC since they have him living here in Michigan.

Brent's wife Monica had/ has Lyme disease that has apparently done something to her fertility. I mean I guess that makes sense to why they don't have kids. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

The Dauer family with Kirk Cameron just for fun lol. 

[RebeccaRay]

8 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I agree that a lot of the Keilen siblings don’t seem fundie. 
 

I am still unsure of Heather’s parentage. I wonder if she is the older sister of Cooper Dauer. If she is, she is likely not in contact with her family of origin. The Dauers are friends with the Duggars. And Cooper Dauer seems like he’s still fundie but he hasn’t posted much on social media in the last few years. 

She is. Marci Dauer is her mom. I believe Marci made a post or comment on Kensi's post and said something like "love you Kensington from granny or something like that"

 

Edit: found this from someone giving their condolences. Listed both Marci, Monte and Cooper and probably her other siblings

Edited March 22 by RebeccaRay
Picture

[JDuggs]

11 hours ago, dawn9476 said:

The friend in that one post said that Heather was her friend for 50 years, so I am going to assume that Heather was in her 50's and so is Kelton's brother. My guess is that they were deep into IBLP and it caused the estrangement between them and their parents. I am sure they are estranged from their dad, too. Are Kardigan and/or Kensigston married? Because as we have seen with others, getting married, especially to someone outside IBLP, can open your eyes.

Kensington wrote a glowing Fathers Day post about her dad RJ, so it seems they’re on very good terms. It leads me to believe RJ and Heather were either separated or divorced and the girls took his side. In some of the social media posts from Kensington, there’s still a lot of Jesus talk, but definitely not to fundie extremes.

The public condolences all seem directed at Heather’s parents, siblings and kids, but not to her husband.