My first tour of the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort came courtesy of Howard McKee, a gentle man with a kind smile and glowing optimism.

While I was looking out at gorse being cleared in preparation for construction of the Bandon Dunes course, Howard was sharing a vision for the resort that would draw golfers from across the country to the South Coast.

I was a skeptic. I hadn’t yet met Mike Keiser, the resort’s owner, who had put down millions of his own dollars on speculation that the resort would be a success. I had seen plans, but couldn’t see them bringing thousands of golfers, including A-list celebrities, to the remote coastline north of Bandon.

But I quickly found Howard’s optimism was contagious, right down to the point that I let him talk me into driving my little Honda Civic through the grass and sand along what eventually would become the main access road to Bandon Dunes from U.S. Highway 101 so he could show me where golfers would leave the real world and enter the unique atmosphere of the resort.

More than a mile from the small building that served as the initial design center for the resort, and just a few hundred yards — albeit on the other side of a large dune — from the highway, my car got stuck in the sand.

Howard and I had to walk back to find a crew member with a big truck to pull the car out. The smile never left his face.

I was quickly sold on Howard McKee, though still a little skeptical of the resort’s future.

Clearly, he was right and I was wrong.

Howard died last Saturday, after a four-year battle with cancer. Though many resort visitors have never heard of him, his influence on Bandon Dunes is probably greater than any other person, except perhaps Keiser.

“There would be no Bandon Dunes if it weren’t for Howard McKee,” Keiser told me in a phone interview this week.

The two met nearly two decades ago, when Howard was the land planner for the proposed 1992 World’s Fair in Chicago, home of Keiser’s Recycle Paper Greetings business.

They became fast friends, and when Howard learned Keiser was looking for property on the East Coast to build an Irish-style links golf course, he suggested Keiser also look at the West Coast.

“I had never considered Oregon,” Keiser said.

They looked at various properties, and after choosing the site near Bandon, Howard took on the entire burden of the challenging land permit process that led to approval of the site for the resort.

“It was hardly a straight shot,” Keiser recalled.

Because portions of the resort property are within a mile of cranberry bogs, the only way the land could be zoned for a destination resort was through an exception to Oregon Land Use Law.

“He got permission as an exception, which I don’t think anyone else has even tried,” Keiser said.

Howard’s work went far beyond just getting approval. He became the resort architect, busily planning how things would work together from the inception of the Bandon Dunes course through the expansions that have included Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, new lodging structures, administration buildings, facilities for caddies and staff and the upcoming Old Macdonald course.

“(Howard was responsible for) the whole layout of the place — the architects we picked, what the buildings looked like, how they all tied together, the waste treatment system, the water system, everything,” Keiser said. “I did golf. He did everything else.”

With his personality, Howard endeared himself to the staff at Bandon Dunes, from upper management to the most basic employees, said Bandon Dunes General Manager Hank Hickox.

“We are all deeply saddened by his death, but he gave us such a platform,” Hickox said this week. “Through his bravery and tenacity, we’re inspired to move on.

“It’s rare to find somebody with such gifts ... to envision and orchestrate and invite others to do the same.”

Howard was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago. He was told he had just 18 months to live, but kept fighting, and kept planning, Keiser said.

Howard’s final projects, a new inn, a clubhouse for Pacific Dunes, and some off-site housing, are in various phases of construction.

“With the exception of Old Macdonald and the Old Macdonald clubhouse, everything is done or under construction by his plan,” Keiser said. “By beating off cancer for two years, he was able to complete his plan.”

To date, the only thing at Bandon Dunes that bears Howard’s name is McKee’s Pub, an Irish tavern that was one of the first additions to the resort, after Howard and his son, Colin, did a tour of Ireland looking at various pubs. While it was appropriate to name the pub after Howard, it also was ironic: He was not a drinker.

Now, two more fitting tributes are planned, Keiser said.

One will be a labyrinth designed after the Charte Cathedral Labyrinth in France, Keiser said. Howard was a big fan of labyrinths, in which people start on the outside and wind their way through to the center.

“There’s something spiritual about it, he always felt,” Keiser said. “Most people agree that the labyrinth at Charte is the epitome of labyrinths.”

The labyrinth will be built with the help of Howard’s son, Colin, and his widow, Kennon. It will be the centerpiece of a small park in Howard’s memory in the area of The Grove cottages.

Meanwhile, Howard’s favorite part of the Bandon Dunes property will be turned into the Howard McKee Memorial Preserve.

The 250 to 300 acres starting on the ridge that runs through the middle of the Bandon Trails golf course and heading west to the property’s boarder near the beach will be untouched, except for the existing golf course, Keiser said.

“The dunes west of Bandon Trails are the most precious place (on the resort),” Keiser said. “On those dunes are both the snowy plover and the silvery phacelia (a threatened plant).”

The environment was always important to Howard, Keiser said.

“He was sort of one of the original green guys,” he said. “I would call him a land steward more than an environmentalist.”

A quick read through Howard’s obituary shows an education including master’s degrees in both architecture and urban design. His work included major projects — redesigning Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., and helping create the light rail system in Portland — as well as international work.

At least in Southwestern Oregon, he will be remembered for his work at the resort.

“Bandon Dunes is Howard’s legacy,” Keiser said. “He did a lot of stuff. That’s what he was proudest of.”

I last had a chance to sit down with Howard before the closing ceremonies for the Curtis Cup last year.

We were sharing a hillside with hundreds of others during an event few could have imagined would ever come to Bandon.

Howard had a bright smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. And why not It was his vision that helped make the event — and the resort — possible.