Nowata Star
126 E. Cherokee St.
Nowata, OK 74048
April 4, 2001
Permission for archiving obituaries given by Phillip Reid, Publisher

Funeral services for Leila Inez Keith, 71, of Tulsa, who died Tuesday, February 27, 2001 were held March 2 at Butler-Stumpff Chapel in Tulsa. The Reverend Charles Secrest officiated. Interment followed in the Garden of "The Last Supper" at Floral Haven Cemetery in Broken Arrow.

Leila was born January 14, 1930 in Gans to Alvie Levi and Mary Emma Johnson Rotert. The family relocated to Tulsa in 1941 where her father worked at Sun Oil Company. She graduated from Webster High School in Tulsa in 1949. She married W.B. "Dub" Keith on December 17, 1951 at Little Kansas while he was serving with the U.S. Navy.

As a Navy wife she followed her husband to Newport, Rhode Island; Quincy, Massachusetts and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until his discharge in 1955; at which time they returned to Tulsa to make their home.

The eldest of ten children, she helped raise her siblings in addition to raising her own two children. Leila devoted herself to her husband, her children and her home. She loved to garden and can her own food. Making quilts was a passion. Never known to sell any of them; they were always given away as gifts to her family members.

Leila was preceded in death by her parents; one sister, Linda; two brothers, Leon and Lonzo Rotert.

Mrs. Keith is survived by her husband of 49 years, Dub Keith of the home; a son, Alen Keith and his wife, Cathi of Claremore; a daughter, Kay Keith of the home; three brothers: Charles Rotert of Tulsa; Leroy Rotert of Claremore and Harvey Rotert of Broken Arrow; three sisters: Lois Lowe of Delaware; Luevon Alfrey of Tulsa and Mary Lou Jordan of Olathe, Kansas; three grandchildren: Katie Berry of Owasso, Lance LeNoir of Chula Vista, California and Cliff LeNoir of Tulsa;; two great-grandchildren: Joseph and Jessica Berry of Owasso and a host of relatives and friends.