Jesse Dale Keller
MOUNT VERNON — Jesse Dale Keller, 82, of Mount Vernon died April 4, 2008, at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus.
He was born July 9, 1925, in Licking County to the late Jesse H. and Velma (Kidd) Keller. Dale was a member of the Rocky Fork Church of Christ in Newark. He was a graduate of Utica High School in 1942 and then enlisted in the Army in 1945. He served in Luzon of the Philippines and then in Korea where he made T/4 sergeant as first cook for Service Company 20th Infantry 6th Division. He returned home after the war to marry Thelma Pauline Willey in 1949. Pauline passed away in 1954 after a long battle with cancer.
He is survived by his second wife, Mary Gardner Keller, whom he married on Sept. 22, 1973; a daughter, Cheryl (Dale) Modesitt of Fallsburg; a sister, Bonnie (Ralph) Hughes of Martinsburg; grandson, Michael Alan (Sherry) Maharg of Mount Vernon; granddaughter, Mary Pauline Modesitt of Buena Vista, Va.; and great-grandchildren, Kylie and Wade Maharg, Aaron Queen and Joseph McElroy.
Dale was preceded in death by his first wife, Thelma Pauline Willey; and brothers, Everett and Edward Keller.
Friends and family may call on Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Dilley-Lasater Funeral Home, 212 N. Main St., Mount Vernon. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Rocky Fork Church of Christ, with Pastor Corey Campbell officiating. Burial with military honors by the Licking County Veterans Alliance will be in Rocky Fork Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made in Dale’s name to the Rocky Fork Church of Christ, 12969 Techniglass Road, Newark, OH 43055. Condolences for the Keller family may be sent through the funeral home’s Web site at www.dilleyfuneralservice.com.
