Friends of Patricia Keeney locked up her downtown Elgin store one last time, not knowing if it will ever reopen.

But they took solace last week in knowing that their efforts to keep Keeney’s Sporting Goods/PK’s Antiques open right up until the shopkeeper’s death put her at peace.

“We kind of all agreed mission accomplished,” said close friend Karin Jones. “We did what we set out to do.” (Photos: Community remembers beloved shopkeeper)

Keeney, 62, died Dec. 27, less than two months after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma. She had been running the store at 19 Douglas Ave. since her father’s death in 1993, but the family’s history as business owners in Elgin actually dates back 127 years.

Friends who oversaw the business while Keeney was sick say the fate of the store is  in the hands of her attorney.

“It’s been a from-my-heart experience,” Jones’ husband, Gentry, said of volunteering. “It’s time to move on.”

The store was crowded as customers said they wanted one more chance to look through Keeney’s array of goods.

Cassie Hurt of Elgin was wide-eyed as she sifted through vintage dresses in the basement shop. Nearby, Keeney friend Ron Weiner, who owns Mr. Cheap’s Mattresses, was looking through postcards from the early 1900s.

“These are anthropologists’ treasures here,” he said.

Upstairs in the shop where John Janiszewski bought his Elgin High School letterman jacket in 1977, he checked out the sporting goods.

“I’m going to miss the fact that it’s some place to come down and talk on your way passing through town,” he said. “The door was always open for anybody.”

Karin Jones said while her best memories of Keeney are from before her illness, they also shared quite a few laughs the past two months. She smiled as she recalled how mad Keeney became when she got out of the hospital and saw that her window displays had been changed. Jones told her friend she would change them back to just the way she wanted, but Keeney eventually calmed down and relayed the real reason for her anger.

“She said, ‘I got to thinking when I walked back in that store, it wasn’t that you guys had rearranged the windows, it was that I wanted my life back and I wanted to be able to work all day,’” Jones said as her eyes welled with tears.

Sales stopped about 6 p.m. Tonya Hudson, executive director of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, led more than 50 people in the store in a brief closing ceremony.

“You weren’t just a customer if you came into her store. You were a friend and she had friends from all walks of life,” Hudson said. “They were as diverse as the products in her store.”

Those friends took turns sharing memories of Keeney.

Bill Jones had the group laughing with the story of how Keeney  was robbed several years ago, but didn’t really start fighting until the robbers started to take  her signature turquoise jewelry. She sent them running out the door.

Jones applauded the volunteer efforts that kept the store open while Keeney was sick.

“I just want to say how proud I am to be part of this community. … This is such a special loving experience,” he said.

Keeney’s cousin, Robert Mulroney, also expressed his gratitude.

“This is her family,” he said of the volunteers. “She loved this town and everybody in it.”

The lights were turned off and the shop was locked. Those who pass by will see a large banner across the front gates.

“Thank you, Keeney’s, for 127 years of memories,” it reads. “Rest in peace, Patricia. You are missed.”