Keith, Hilda Earle Coulter, age 85, died surrounded by friends and family on Thursday evening, December 18, 2014. A selfless giver of kindness, she enriched the lives of every person blessed to have crossed her path. She loved and was loved more deeply than most, and will be sorely missed by all who knew her. She was a resident of Shannondale Retirement Community. A native of Knoxville, she graduated from Knoxville High School and attended the University of Tennessee. She taught at Tennessee School for the Deaf and retired from Knox County Schools. Hilda was a gifted soprano soloist who sang throughout her life. As a teenager she won the National Soloist Competition and sang at Soldier Field in Chicago. She sang with the James King Chorus and the Knoxville Choral Society in her younger years. She also sang for many years at her church, Vestal UMC, and in her last years with Shannondale Singers and Golden Tones. She was also a gifted artist who sold many of her paintings at Knoxville events. Hilda was a member of First UMC, the church in which she grew up. In 2010, Hilda won the Florence Crittenton Agency’s Mother of the Year Award. She was preceded in death by her parents, Hettie and Earle Coulter; brothers, David and Herbert Coulter; and nephew Matthew Keith Christian. She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Lemuel G. Keith, Jr.; son, David Keith and wife, Nancy; two grandchildren, all of Knoxville; daughter, Deborah Jane Keith, of New York City; sister-in-law, Carolyn Coulter; niece, Ann Coulter Orr and husband, Allen; grand-nieces, Christen and Catherine Orr, all of Lilburn, GA; sister-in-law, Martha Keith Farrelly and husband, Bruce, of Knoxville; nephew, Bill Christian, Jr. and wife, Sherry, of Greenback, TN. A memorial service for Mrs. Keith will be held First United Methodist Church at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations to the National Association to Protect Children can be made at www.protect.org or mailed to NAPC P.O. BOX 2187 Knoxville, TN 37901. Berry Funeral Home is serving the Keith family. Mrs. Keith’s final resting places will be with her family at Woodlawn Cemetery and in the Atlantic Ocean which she loved all her life.
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