Obituary of Lea Keister

Lea Palmer Keister, 87 of Bedford, passed away Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at her home following complications with Kidney Cancer. She was born on Thursday, September 17, 1925 in Dublin, VA, a daughter of the late Guthrie Johnson Palmer, Sr. and Sarah McDonald Palmer. She was also preceded in death by husbands, Atlas Joseph Perry, Sr. and Donald Stinson Keister; a brother, Guthrie Johnson Palmer, Jr. and two sisters, Lula Palmer Williams and Sarah Palmer Robertson. Upon marrying her first husband, Joseph Perry in 1950, the couple moved to Altavista, Virginia where he was employed as an engineer at Burlington Mills. It was there that she had her two sons, Joe and John. After the death of her husband, she remarried Donald Keister in 1973 and they relocated to Dublin, Virginia. She made her final move in 1980 to Bedford, Virginia, so she could live in the shadow of the Peaks of Otter. She was extremely dedicated to Church work, serving as Elder at Bedford Presbyterian Church. And until her illness, she was extremely active in the community serving as an Auxiliary Volunteer at the Bedford Memorial Hospital, working for decades with the Bedford chapter of the Red Cross and with the Local Christian Ministries. Surviving are her sons, Jonathan Foster Perry of Los Angeles, CA, Atlas Joseph Perry, Jr. of Yanceyville, NC; and a sister, Nancy Palmer Tribble of Dublin. Funeral services will be held at the graveside at Green Hill Cemetery in Altavista on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 2:30 pm. The family will receive friends Saturday from 12:30 pm until 1:30 pm at Updike Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Bedford