Helen Keene

OxfordHelen Dorothy Keene, 84, died Monday, August 27, 2007, at the Mississippi State Veterans Home in Oxford after a brief illness. A native of Cadiz, Ohio, she was born November 26, 1922, to the late John and Alice Lisk Ballog. After graduating as valedictorian of Cadiz High School, she worked as a secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the outbreak of World War II, she joined the Navy. Her main assignment was New Orleans where she met her husband, Richard M. Keene, who preceded her in death in 1990. She lived in Japan, Europe, and most of the United States before retiring to Tupelo in 1972. She enjoyed knitting, sewing, and spending time with her granddaughters.

State Room services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at W. E. Pegues in Tupelo and burial will be in Plantersville Cemetery. Her daughter will deliver the eulogy.

Survivors include one daughter, Barbara Keene Becker and her husband, Gary, of Apex, N.C.; two granddaughters, Laura Becker of New York City and Kate Becker of Baltimore, Maryland.

She was preceded in death by one son, John L. Keene, in June 2006.

Visitation will continue from 9:30 a.m. until service time at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to any Veterans home.