Obituary of Christine L. Keel

Only twelve years after Oklahoma statehood, Christine Keel was born April 13, 1919 in Connerville, OK into a large family whose father did not speak English so she grew up speaking Choctaw. Both her parents were full-blood Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. She enjoyed speaking Choctaw throughout her life. She was educated in boarding schools established by the federal government for American Indians. She did well in school and was the valedictorian at her graduation from Chilocco Indian School in northeastern Oklahoma. Married to a career soldier, she lived in France and Germany in the early 1950s. She held various jobs, retiring as the manager of a neighborhood grocery store in Lawton, Oklahoma about 25 years ago. She joined her family here in Lebanon in 2003. Since 2010, she has lived at The Pavilion where she passed away peacefully on May 3, 2012 at the age of 93. Christine loved her friends at the Lebanon Senior Center and Lebanon Square Apartments, and they loved her for her helpful nature and all her interesting stories of her childhood. She loved gardening, walking, and especially talking with all her grandchildren. She was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She is survived by her son, Franklin Keel, daughter-in-law, Kathie, and their daughter, Caroline of Lebanon, TN and three grandsons and ten great-grandchildren who live in South Carolina, Wyoming, and Utah.