Joyce Isabelle Keeler

If you ask many people about our mom, they'll probably remember her fancy beehive hairdo years ago and what a great cook she was. She was a master at frying chicken in her old cast iron skillet and her spaghetti was legendary, along with her pies and cinnamon rolls. At Christmas time, she baked enough different kinds of cookies to open her own bakery. The holidays were always fun times. A house full of family and friends,with everyone helping out in the kitchen. After dinner when the dishes were done, the kids would camp out in the living room watching TV while all the grownups sat around the kitchen table talking. Alot of the time, there were more people than chairs, but that didn't matter. There was always room and enough food for everyone. Mom loved to sew, a talent that she passed on to Pat. She even sewed Barbie doll clothes for us, trying not to cuss when it came to the tiny zippers and buttons. Our dad loved to plant a huge garden every year and with that came lots of canning. Mom would make tomatoe juice, can tomatoes and just about anything dad brought in from the garden till she ran out of jars. Then, much to her dismay, dad would usually come home with more jars a day or so later, just in time to can lugs of peaches and pears. One year when we lived out in western Nebraska , we went out into the sandhills and picked wild plums. Mom got mad when we had "wild plum" fights with the neighbor kids, but there was still plenty left over for her to make some fantastic jelly. When dad passed away, mom stayed home for a while. She raised Bob on her own and between her watchful eye and a few encounters with the Valley cops, Bob turned out to be a pretty good kid... She was very proud of being able to finally go back to school and get her GED. She worked full time at 3M for several years, including lots of overtime when Mt. St Helens blew. She was a strong lady, something she passed on to all of us. As the years went by, mom retired and spent most of her time reading, doing embroidery and of course watching QVC! Boxes of jewelry, Christmas ornaments and all kinds of things would magically appear and Pat would have to ask mom what she was going to do with everything. She always had some one in mind when she would see that special something that she just couldn't pass up. When mom when to Valhaven, it was tough on all of us, especially her. But, when she saw that some of the staff that had worked at Golden Years with her were now at Valhaven, it helped to ease some of the anxiety. She was the only resident to have a Vince Gill bumper sticker on her wheelchair! She loved her country music and also enjoyed listening to her Three Tenors CD's. She looked forward to visits from family, the Lutheran ladies group and old friends from Valley. She really looked forward to visits from her friends in the Christian Motorcycle club. They really meant a lot to her. Mom was very proud of all of us kids. Pat's career as a nurse, Barb working as a dispatcher with the Nebraska State Patrol and Bob being a network manager with West Corp. She got to see her two grand daughters grow up, graduate from college and get married and her grandson graduate from high school and go on to college. She loved them all and spoiled them whenever she had a chance. Mom worked hard all her life. It wasn't always easy, but she made sure we always had the things we needed and we always knew we were loved. What more can a child want from their mom, except to have a little more time with her.

Joyce Isabelle Keeler

December 30, 1932 - November 14, 2007