Julia V. Keller

Mrs. Julia Vernon Keller of LaGrange, wife of the late William Wates Keller, passed away at Twin Fountains in LaGrange on July 1st. The visitation will be held on Friday, July 8th, at First Baptist Church on the Square at 10 o’clock followed by the funeral at 11 o’clock. Dr. Paul Baxter and the Rev. Cade Farris are officiating. Burial will be at Rosemere Cemetery in Opelika, Alabama.

Mrs. Keller, the daughter of the late Frank Atkinson Vernon and Julia Belle McDonald Vernon, was born May 21, 1922, in Cusseta, Alabama. She grew up in Opelika, Alabama, coming to LaGrange in 1947. She married William Wates Keller in 1950.

Upon graduating from Opelika High School in 1940, Mrs. Keller earned her Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Montevallo in 1944. She studied with Miecislaw Ziolkowski, a retired Polish concert performer and teacher. She received a diploma in music from the Sherwood Music School in Chicago. Mrs. Keller taught piano three years in Opelika before coming to LaGrange in 1947 to teach piano at LaGrange High School for the next thirteen years. She then taught piano at the First Baptist Church School of Music until retirement.

Mrs. Keller was a member of the Troup County Retired Teachers’ Association, LaGrange Woman’s Club, the Music Section of the Woman’s Club, and the Iris Garden Club. She held memberships in Alpha Lambda Delta, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Kappa Delta Pi Honorary Societies and Troup County Historical Society.

She was a member of First Baptist Church on the Square where she served many years as a member of the adult choir and also served by playing special music. Mrs. Keller was a member of the Dorcas Sunday School Class, the Merrymakers, and the Woman’s Missionary Union where she served as group leader and prayer chairman.

Mrs. Keller is survived by two daughters and a son, Julia Anne Keller Porter and her husband, James Freeman Porter, Jr., Carolyn Vernon Keller Thain and her husband Charles Paul Thain, of Marietta, and William Wates Keller, III, and his wife, Leigh Gamel Keller of Marietta. She is survived by eight grandchildren: James F. Porter, III, and fiancée, Jamie Brooke Abrams, Julia Elise Porter, William A. Keller Porter, Meredith Audrey Thain, Charles Paul Thain, Jr., Jackson Vernon Thain, William Wates Keller, IV, Thomas Franklin Keller and one great-grandson, Falon Laine Porter.

In lieu of flowers, those desiring may contribute to missions at First Baptist Church on the Square or the Julia and Wates Keller Endowment Scholarship Fund at LaGrange College.

Those wishing to share a condolence or remembrance with the family may do so by visiting www.shlagrange.com.

Arrangements are by Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, 1010 Mooty Bridge Road, LaGrange, GA 30240 (706) 884-8636