Nellie Ruth Keasling

Mrs. Nellie R. Keasling, of Cleveland, Tennessee, passed away October 5, 2024, at CHI Memorial Hospital, following an extended illness. She was 81 years old.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, October 12, 2024, at Poole Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Cleveland, with Dr. Dwain Pyeatt officiating. A private burial will follow the service. Visitation will be held from 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home on Saturday.

Mrs. Keasling was born on September 28, 1943, in Houston, Texas. She was the only child of the late Rev. George Freeman and Pearl Freeman. Nellie accepted Jesus at the early age of six, and spent the rest of her life in service to Christ, always trying to live her life as He would have her live.

Nellie was a teacher for several years, becoming the English department head at Aldine High School and earning the Teacher of The Year Award in 1978 for the Aldine Independent School District in Houston, Texas. Education, whether it was teaching piano lessons or teaching adult students as they studied for their GED, was always one of the highest priorities of her life.

In 1993, Nellie and her family moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, where she began work with the Church of God at Pathway Publishing House. She would spend the next 30 years working for the Lord in different capacities as a copy editor and editorial coordinator for the Church of God Division of Education. She believed strongly that she was fulfilling the calling of God on her life through this work.

Nellie was a musician, an educator, a lifelong learner, a writer, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a caretaker, and a dedicated follower of Jesus. She loved others with everything she had and was unfailingly generous to those in need. She believed in doing all things with excellence and for glory of God.

Nellie was preceded in death by her parents and her husband of 29 years, William Keasling, in November 2007.

She is survived by her daughter, Tammy Milner (Scott), Chattanooga, Tennessee; her son, Matthew Keasling (Jack), Munich, Germany; three grandchildren, Caitrin Milner, Jay Milner, and Gwen Milner; and cousins Lee Freeman and Loretta Cofield.

To her friends, she wanted to say: “Thank you for all the many times you have helped me, prayed for me, and encouraged me. God will surely reward you. I’ll see you someday on the other side.”