Today's Featured Biography

 
Dorothy Butts Keep

After graduation married and had 3 children. That marriage ended in divorce in 1962. Remarried in 1964 and had two more children. That marriage also ended in divorce in 1974. Married my current husband in 1977. He was a widower with 3 children the same ages as my first three. We have now been married 26 years. I went to work for John Deere in 1962 starting as a mail clerk. My husband also worked for John Deere and retired in 1982. I Retired in 1992 as a Senior Buyer. I worked with several people from our graduating class and as you all know they were a great bunch of people. One from our graduating class was my immediate "boss" Tom Piper. Sure you all remember him. My oldest child is an Asst. Pastor of the United Methodist Church in Omaha. She has 2 Master Degrees in theology from Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. Three of my children live in Ottumwa and are employed in Ottumwa. My only son lives in N.Y. City. He has his own Consulting Business and recently is fighting cancer. I have 14 grandchildren and some could make me a great-grandmother anytime. My husband and I enjoy gardening, camping and fishing when we aren't enjoying our extended family.

* * OBITUARY **

Reece Funeral Home•Mar 22, 2024
OTTUMWA – Dorothy Elaine Keep was born on June 11, 1938 to Hazel (Patrick) and Harlan Butts and spent the 18 years of her childhood in a small house on Mary Street. She lived there, played in the fields did the many daily chores with her sister Marian Stansbeary (1939-2018) and her brother, Larry Butts (currently living in Page, Arizona). She died on March 21, 2024 at Hospice House in Ottumwa and will be laid to rest at Shaul Cemetery, less than a half mile from her childhood home.

Dorothy loved living in Ottumwa and was proud to be from Iowa. She was the devoted mother of five children, Dana Bainbridge, Cheri (Frank) Payne, W. John Bainbridge, Jackie King, and Toni Stewart.

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In 1977 she married John Keep and they created a blended family with John’s children, Jerry (Denise) Keep, Julia (John) Millard and Jeff (Stacy) Keep. Dorothy and John built a beautiful family home on seven acres where they lived throughout their 32-year marriage. Their home was the gathering place for their growing family, which included 14 grandchildren. For all those years family and friends gathered there on Rock Bluff Road to enjoy their good company, watch birds, gather around a fire, have a drink, laugh a lot, and eat too much. Dorothy was blessed to live long enough to welcome into the world 6 great grandchildren, who brought her great joy. She rose through the ranks at John Deere from "mail girl” to senior buyer over her 30-year tenure, all without a college education and while raising 5 children. In her retirement years she enjoyed lunches with friends, gardening and volunteering, including serving on the Hospice of Davis and Wapello Counties Auxiliary Board, on the Willard Street United Methodist Church board of Trustees, and for many years to support the festivities of Oktoberfest.

Visitation will be open after 11 a.m. Monday, March 25th at Reece Funeral Home with her family present to greet friends from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.

A service celebrating Dorothy’s life will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 26th at Reece Funeral Home with Pastor Chris Childs officiating. Cremation will follow the service and private inurnment will be in Shaul Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Hospice Serving Davis and Wapello Counties.

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