Charlotte Keller

1937 - 2024

KELLER, Charlotte

Charlotte Burkhart Keller was born May 13, 1937, in Woodsfield, OH of parents, Grace Gillespie and Albert Raymond Burkhart, MD. Charlotte was the youngest of 4 children and was preceded in her death by siblings, Joan Moffatt and Charles Burkhart, MD.

A visitation is planned for 2-5 PM with a Vigil Service at 3 PM, Sunday, June 30 at H.M. Patterson, Oglethorpe Hill and a Funeral Mass will be at 11 AM, Monday, July 1 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Atlanta.

Charlotte had a wonderful childhood, was raised Presbyterian and graduated valedictorian from Woodsfield High School. After obtaining a BS in Zoology from Smith College in Northampton, MA, she worked as a lab research assistant at Princeton University, Northwestern Medical School, as well as the Mount Desert Biological Lab in Maine, where she met her future husband, James Keller, then a sophomore at Marquette Medical School. She became Catholic and they were married in Chicago at the Holy Name Catholic Cathedral on July 1, 1961. The next years were filled with the excitement of James' medical training and the creation of their family. Charlotte gave birth to their children Elizabeth Gillespie in Milwaukee, Carolyn Joan in Baltimore, and Andrew James in St. Louis.

After settling in Atlanta at Emory, Charlotte, besides rearing their three wonderful children, was active at their elementary school serving as Cultural Arts Chairperson, Great Books leader, and PTA president. She also taught CCD classes at IHM, where she was Staff Coordinator in the High School of Religion.

In 1985 they moved to Rochester, NY. She quickly became involved in her beloved Church of the Transfiguration, where she served on many ministries including ecumenical and evangelization. Through her involvement with the Rochester Catholic Diocese she developed a relationship with Bishop Matthew Clark and was appointed to the Priestly Formation Board, and the Commission on Women in the Church and Society. Her ecumenical effort led her to Church Women United and the NGO, One World Goods. She was always taking courses and workshops at the Lay School of Theology and was involved in the Billy Graham Rochester Crusade in 1987. And in the midst of all this, worked at the Pittsford Library which gave her ample opportunity to do what she loved, read.

In 1992 they returned to Atlanta and Emory. She never missed a step, joined Holy Cross Catholic Church, and shortly became Director of the RCIA program, served on various committees and in 1995 was named their Woman of the Year. During this same time, she continued to study and attend courses at the Lay School of Theology, Columbia Seminary under Ben Johnson. Ben engaged her to give a solo, one-day retreat at Shallowford Presbyterian church in 2004. How proud she was to do this.

Charlotte had many projects, one of her most ambitious was her deep dive into Dante's Divine Comedy which resulted in several well received church presentations, one of which was covered by the AJC. She said of this experience that it was the culmination of a spiritual journey she had been on for years attempting to learn the meaning of this existence and where it would lead. She was a true autodidact. She did indeed slow down a bit after open heart surgery in June 2000 for insertion of a mechanical aortic valve. She immediately accepted this challenge with grace and the determination she always carried with her. Around this same time she self published a book of her favorite 142 poems under the title, Pilgrimage Through Poetry, which included some of her own poems.

The couple joined Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in 2012 to become more involved with social and interfaith issues. One of her great sources of happiness was working on the serving-line with the Lourdes Lunch Program that provided sit-down, warm meals to the homeless twice weekly. This service was the practical culmination of all her theological and spiritual lifelong interests; she was heartbroken when this ministry had to be closed related to the Covid epidemic. Her love of this church community grew by leaps and bounds as she became more involved in the church activities and passionate about black history and culture. After reading over one hundred and fifty books on the subject, she was preparing to make presentations on this extensive review, but sadly it never came to fruition.

Survivors include her husband, James W Keller, MD; sister, Carolyn Halls; children: Elizabeth Keller Butker (Harrison) and their two children: Charlotte Nitz (Andrew) and Harrison Butker (Isabelle) and their children; Carolyn Joan Keller, DVM, and her daughter Elizabeth Gable; and Andrew James Keller (Helen) and their children: James, Hunter, Thomas and Andrew; and many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins, including Ann Burkhart.

In lieu of flowers: send contributions to:

https://bit.ly/LourdesDonations