Paul Edwin Keller

Paul Edwin Keller, 93, Camby, passed away peacefully at the Cumberland Trace nursing home in Plainfield on January 22, 2016. Mr. Keller was born December 6, 1922, in Veedersburg, Ind. to Orville E. and Bessie C. Thomas Keller.

At age 12 (1934), his mother moved he and his sister to Flat, Alaska, a small gold mining town in the Iditarod region in west-central Alaska, pop. 150. He lived in Flat with his mother and stepfather before he moved on his own to Anchorage to attend high school. Post-graduation he worked for the Alaska Railroad for one year and joined the US Navy in 1941. After basic training he was assigned to the U.S.S. Shamrock Bay, CVE-84, a small escort-class carrier with multiple Atlantic tours to Casablanca and Morocco as well as duties in the Pacific to the Philippines and Japan. After his discharge in 1947 he returned to Indiana.

Within a year, he was hired by Eli Lilly & Co where he was employed for 38 years. He worked in the shipping and import/export services departments. He was a member of the Masons (Brookside Lodge # 720). He enjoyed reading, traveling, trains, Alaska, aviation history, cats, and playing euchre and bridge and spending time with his family and friends. He was a self-taught, accomplished musician playing the organ, mandolin, and accordion. He also enjoyed ministering and counseling many in and outside of his church throughout his life.

Survivors include his wife, Ardith, married on May 22, 1959; son Chris (Jennifer); daughter Rose Sanders (Bill); and sister Mary Maxine Johnston of Spring Valley, Cal.

Friends and family will gather on Sunday, January 24, 2016, 2 to 5 p.m., in the chapel at Carlisle – Branson Funeral Service & Crematory. The funeral service will begin at 11 a.m., Monday, January 25, 2016, in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made to Churches in Mission, www.churchesinmission.org. Visit www.CarlisleBranson.com to share a favorite memory or to sign the online guest registry.