A devoted wife, loving mother, accomplished homemaker, and successful administrative assistant, Helen Elizabeth Moody Keating, of Columbus, Georgia passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 26th in her home on Moon Road. She was 98 years old.
Helen was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1925 to Charles Steele Moody and Nellie Jay Lamon Moody who raised their daughter in a loving home instilling in Helen a strong work ethic, a deep love for Jesus, and a remarkable sense of humor. Helen attended Murphy High School in Mobile, Alabama, before studying liberal arts at Blue Mountain College in Mississippi and earning her bachelor’s degree. Between high school and college, she attended radio school in Tampa, Florida, where she helped install radios in bombers used by the United States in World War II. She also did mission work in south Texas and enjoyed learning the Spanish language. After college, while employed in Columbus, Mississippi, she met her husband of 59 years James Stephen Keating who was earning a degree in music education at the University of Alabama at the time. They were married on June 9th, 1951 in Mobile, Alabama. She and her husband, Jim, lived most of their adult lives in central and south Florida. In 2011, after her husband’s death, Helen moved to Columbus, Georgia, where she lived at the Gardens at Calvary assisted living facility.
Helen will always be remembered for her sense of humor, her sincere empathy, and her deep love of others. Helen could often be heard saying, usually in a self-deprecating and quite humorous manner, “Bless her little baby heart,” “Y’all are so good to me and I am so unworthy,” or upon being asked if she wanted more to eat, “I’ve had an excellent sufficiency. Anymore and I would go flippity-flop!” She was loved by her family, her friends, her caregivers, and, quite frankly, anyone she met.
Helen was preceded in death by her husband James Stephen Keating of Fort Myers, Florida and is survived by her daughter, Karen Elizabeth Keating of Arlington, Virginia, and her son, Joseph Michael Keating of Columbus, Georgia.
A brief memorial service will be held at the Gardens of Calvary at 9:30 am on Sunday, December 31st, 2023, and the graveside service is at 11:00 am on January 8th, 2024 at Coral Ridge Funeral Home and Cemetery in Cape Coral, Florida. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Gardens at Calvary or Schomburg Road Baptist Church in her honor would be greatly appreciated: Donations (thegardensatcalvary.com) or Giving | Schomburg Road Baptist Church Columbus, Georgia (srblife.com).
