LETTERS: A VERY REMARKABLE WOMAN

To the editor:

The passing away of Miss Laura St. Ann Keller will leave a void in the lives of all who knew and loved here. She was truly a very remarkable woman. She was not only a good teacher and businesswoman, she was a great neighbor and friend.

My children learned a lot from her as her home and spacious yard were always open to them and the other neighborhood children. Being born in 1894, she was able to share with them her observations of the many changes in society, business, government and the world around her in her 102 years of life.

She had been a business owner and a teacher at the university and in New Jersey. She was associated with various social and business organizations. She was a charter member of the local historical society and was active with the Glenn House operations. And she was very interested in antiques and restoring her home, Westlane. In 1991, she sold her home and moved to Chateau Girardeau.

Miss Keller was a woman with a kind and generous heart. Being a devout Catholic, she told me in one of my last visits with her that her goal in life was to go to Heaven. She died early Sunday morning, Jan. 5, 1997.

This poem is in memory of her:

Legacy

You influenced my life

More than you know.

You planted seeds

That I know sow.

Your wisdom and wit

You shared with glee.

The fruits of your labor

Were not wasted on me.

Thank you so much

For loving me.

My love in return

I give to thee.

SUE ROUSSEL

Cape Girardeau