Katherine Keys

Funeral services for Katherine Keys will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 30, 2025, at Johnson Temple Church of God in Christ with Elder William Roberson officiating. The burial will follow in Leesville Memorial Cemetery under the direction of Jeane's Funeral Service. A visitation will be held at the church from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service.

Katherine was born August 29, 1943, in Lake Charles, Louisiana and passed away August 21, 2025, in Rosepine, Louisiana at the age of 81. Katherine was the eldest of ten children born to Jasper Keys and Sylvia McMarion Keys. She lived most of her life in Leesville, Louisiana. After high school, she began her working as a stenographer in the court system. Then she became the administrative assistant at the Main Post Chapel on Fort Polk and worked for 33 years. She worked under many chaplains during her career. Katherine used her "green thumb" to fill her office with plants. Katherine was born and raised in the church. She gave her life to Christ at a young age and continued to work in the church until her health started to fail. Even when she couldn't attend, her input on services and church conventions was vital. Nothing was done

without her approval. Katherine loved Sunday School. She was the National Sunday School Superintendent at Crisp Chapel and God's Temple of Deliverance Church of God and Christ. Her other hobbies included reading and solving crossword puzzles. She loved to cook and bake. Family would come from all over to eat her desserts. Katherine was also well known for her singing. She loved to sing and always sang in church and at home. As a child, she and her siblings would travel with their father and sing at other churches. They became known as the Crisp Crusaders.

Katherine was preceded in death by her son, Lester Keys; daughter, Katrina Keys; parents, Jasper H. Keys and Sylvia Nell McMarion Keys; and siblings, Leese Payton, Cecilia Keys, and Jasper Joseph Keys.

Those left to cherish her memory are two children: son, Eric Keys (Kim), and daughter, Matricia Keys; grandchildren, Eric Keys (Courtney), Erin Keys, James Keys, Camryn Alfred, Jeffrey Keys, and Kathryn Keys; one great-granddaughter, Isabella Keys; brothers, Genesis Keys (Patricia) and Joshua Keys; sisters, Sylvia Edwards, Beatrice Piper, Esther Rabb (David), and Princess Copeland (Dennis); and numerous nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends.