When Vernon filled out his Military Registration Card in June 1917 for the World War I Draft he was living in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Ula (born in West Virginia) and one child.
Vernon's parents, Andrew and Anna Keenan, are buried in the Dutch Track Cemetery, North Pleasureville, Henry County, Kentucky.
In 1927, Jack and Irving Rosenthal purchased land at the intersection of Surf Avenue and West 10th Street and, with a $100,000 investment, they hired Keenan to design a new coaster.
After the success of this endeavour, Keenan and Baker once again teamed to build one of the most debated roller coasters of the 1920s, the Blue Streak at Woodcliffe Pleasure Park.
During this period he designed, among others, the Atom Smasher at Rockaways' Playland, a coaster featured extensively in the 1952 movie This Is Cinerama.