Meet the O’Keeffe Family: Faith, Family, and 30 Years on the LA Airwaves.

 

For Sean and Leilani O’Keeffe, community is everything. When they were looking for the perfect place to plant roots, the tree-lined streets and welcoming vibe of North Ranch immediately called to them. Making the neighborhood their home in 2022, they were initially drawn here by its close proximity to Oaks Christian School, where their son, Colin, just finished up his four years of high school. Today, they are fully settled into the rhythm of neighborhood life, balancing a deep connection to their local community with a pretty remarkable legacy in global broadcasting and service.

 

A Season of Milestones

The past year has been a total whirlwind for the O'Keeffe family, packed with major transitions and some beautiful celebrations. Colin's senior year has been jam-packed with college visits, club and varsity soccer, mission trips, and just the general craziness of senior year. This past spring, Sean and Leilani celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary, a wonderful testament to a partnership built on love and plenty of laughter. Just a few months later in June, the family watched Colin don his cap and gown to graduate from Oaks Christian High School.

The excitement carries right into this fall, as Colin prepares to pack his bags and head off to Fort Worth to begin his freshman year at Texas Christian University (TCU). Fort Worth is also pretty much where Leilani grew up, so she will have him ready for a two-step. (Canyon Club lessons are coming!)

 

Travel, Culture, and Giving Back

Travel has always been a massive passion for the O’Keeffe household, serving as their favorite way to bond and experience the world together. They spent this past Christmas exploring the historic streets and culture of Italy, including Rome, Florence, and Venice. It was a trip Sean and Leilani did before Colin was born, so this was a unique chance to share some treasured memories of the past with him.

Leilani's Hawaiian roots also regularly bring the family back to the islands. For the past three years in the spring, Colin has actually combined his love for the islands with a servant's heart, participating in mission trips to Molokaʻi.

 

From the Dance Floor to the Tennis Court

Sending Colin off to TCU will be quite an experience for these soon-to-be empty nesters. For the past 18 years, Leilani has poured her heart into being a devoted stay-at-home mom and school volunteer, all while staying incredibly active in the local North Ranch tennis community. But long before she was cheering for Colin on the soccer sidelines of Oaks Christian, Leilani’s world revolved around dance. She served as the Captain of the dance team at the University of North Texas (UNT) and was a head instructor for National Cheerleaders Association/ National Dance Alliance; later sharing her passion by coaching the varsity dance team at Village Christian School in Sun Valley for 10 years.

As fate would have it, dance is exactly what brought her and Sean together in the first place. The two crossed paths in Texas when the University of North Texas dance team appeared as guests on Sean's radio show.

"There's a story there!" they both like to say with a smile.

 

Sean "Valentine" O'Keeffe: Waking Up Southern California

Sean "Valentine" O'Keeffe has been a part of many of our readers' morning commutes for years. While he’s just a neighbor and dad at home, millions of Southern Californians know Sean professionally by a single name: Valentine. This August, Sean is celebrating a massive milestone: 30 consecutive years on the airwaves in Los Angeles with iHeartRadio.

Raised in Connecticut by Irish-born parents alongside his two sisters, Sean discovered his passion for broadcasting at just 15 years old after landing an internship at WICH 1310 AM in Norwich, Connecticut.While attending the University of Connecticut, he spent his weekends spinning "records" before taking an unexpected turn into law enforcement. He served his community as an officer with the State of Connecticut, 86th PD at Troop E, but even while wearing a badge and uniform, the radio bug never really left him.

Eventually, the airwaves proved to be his true calling, and he transitioned back into broadcasting full-time. His career took him across New England with major stops in Providence and Boston, before heading south to host the night show at KHKS in Dallas, where he would ultimately meet Leilani.

In 1996, Hollywood came calling. Sean moved to Los Angeles to host the night shift at the legendary KIIS-FM, working alongside morning icon Rick Dees before later taking over the afternoon drive. Then in 2007, he launched Valentine in the Morning on 104.3 MYfm, where he has been waking up Southern California every weekday morning since.

 

A Legacy of Service and Honor

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Sean’s talent has earned him some of the industry’s highest honors. His professional mantle includes being named the ABC Radio Personality of the Year, winning a Radio Music Award for Major Market Personality of the Year, receiving a 2022 Gracie Award for Valentine in the Morning, and earning two nominations for the prestigious Marconi Personality of the Year Award. Though not as much lately (radio can keep you busy), Sean has been a regular guest on The Talk, made appearances on The Dr. Oz Show, and handled hosting duties on FOX’s prime-time reality series Married by America.

Yet, for Sean, the real reward of a public platform has always been the opportunity to give back. Locally, he is a passionate supporter of the arts and community, whether he is hosting The Jerry Herman Awards to champion high school theater, or raising awareness for community difference-makers like Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Susan G. Komen, SOS Ministries, and the Alzheimer's Association.

On a global scale, Sean has dedicated a lot of his time to uplifting American service members by completing 10 USO tours. His military outreach has seen him broadcasting alongside the Goo Goo Dolls from the flight deck of the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) in the Persian Gulf, entertaining troops at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and Naval Base Bahrain, and twice hosting the "Welcome Home Show" for the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division.

 

The O'Keeffe family, Sean, Leilani, Colin, and their two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, have been proud North Ranch residents since 2022. If you are up and about weekday mornings between 5:00 and 10:00 a.m., tune your dial to 104.3 MY FM or the iHeart Radio App to catch Sean hosting Valentine in the Morning, and be sure to say hello if you see them out and about in the neighborhood!