Dorothy M. Keller

Dorothy Marie (Dippold) Keller , 93, of Gaithersburg, Md., died on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 in Gaithersburg, Md.
She was born on May 16, 1919 in St. Marys, the seventh of eight children born to the late John A. and Katherine “Kate” (Erich) Dippold. Mrs. Keller’s husband of 67 years, William Charles Keller, predeceased her exactly six months previously on Aug. 22, 2012.
Mrs. Keller graduated from St. Marys Public High School in 1937. She was class vice president and acted in plays during her high school years. After graduation, she worked for her hometown newspaper, The Daily Press, in St. Marys for six years. She did reporting, writing, editing, and proofreading, along with various other office duties. She was very proud that her father was the founder of the newspaper in 1910 and that her brother James Dippold was editor for many years. Mrs. Keller subsequently held other typing, clerical and retail jobs in both St. Marys and briefly in Harrisburg.
Mrs. Keller traveled to Manhattan, Kansas, and married her high school sweetheart, Bill
Keller, on Dec. 2, 1944, before he went overseas to serve in the Philippine Islands in World War II. After the war, the couple moved from St. Marys to Washington, D.C. Mrs. Keller attended classes at George Washington University and did clerical work for the National Academy of Sciences until the birth of her daughter, Lois, at which time she became a full-time homemaker. Mrs. Keller lived in Washington D.C. from 1947 until 1977, and two delightful years in Chicago in 1958 and 1959.
She volunteered with the Girl Scouts and Red Cross and at her daughter’s schools. After her daughter was a senior in high school, Mrs. Keller returned to work part-time at Woodward & Lothrop in the china department, followed by secretarial positions at the National Association of Homebuilders and the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company in Washington, D. C.
Mrs. Keller was a lifelong Catholic. When she and her husband moved from Washington, D.C. to Gaithersburg, Md. in 1977, she became a founding member of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Gaithersburg, Md., where she remained active in Fifty Plus Club, Adoration Hour and Renew group until her illness. She participated in the Goshen Homemakers Club and played bridge. Although Dorothy loved the cultural opportunities in Washington, she missed living near her siblings and childhood friends in Pa. She enjoyed many years of Christmases spent in Naples, Fla. with her husband and daughter; and after her daughter’s marriage, summer visits to Ocean City with her daughter and family became a tradition. She and her daughter Lois toured Europe when Lois was in high school and enjoyed trips together to England and Greece. Dorothy also traveled to the U.S.A. and ventured to a number of other countries, including Russia, Ireland, Scotland, Finland and Denmark to fulfill her interest in travel.
Mrs. Keller is survived by a daughter, Lois Ann Keller-Poole and her husband Terry Poole of Walkersville, Md.; two granddaughters, Annmarie “Annie” Fox and her husband David of Frederick, Md., and Alanna Poole of Walkersville, Md.; two step-grandsons, Michael Poole and his wife Ann Marie of Jefferson, Md., and Christian “Chris” Poole and his wife Allison Gilbert of Frederick, Md.; four step-great-grandchildren, Danielle, Justin, Elizabeth and Hunter; a sister-in-law, Ora Dippold; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Keller was the last surviving member of her immediate family, having been predeceased by two sisters, Rose McIntyre and Edna Stebich; and five brothers, Paul, James, John, Robert and in infancy Leo Earl Dippold.
Donations in Dorothy Marie (Dippold) Keller's memory may be made to St. John Neumann Church (with identifying information of the deceased in the memory line), 9300 Lochaven Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20882; or to Saint Francis University (for the William C. and Dorothy D. Keller Scholarship Fund), Loretto, PA 15940.

Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m., with a prayer service offered at 7 p.m. by Monsignor John Dietzenbach at the DeVol Funeral Home, 10 East Deer Park Dr., Gaithersburg, Md., on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013.

A second visitation will occur on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at the Lynch-Green Funeral Home, 151 N. Michael St., St. Marys, from 10 a.m. to noon, at which time there will be a prayer service at the funeral home led by the Rev. Eric Vogt, O.S.B., pastor of Sacred Heart Church, where Mrs. Keller was baptized and attended the parish school in her youth. Pallbearers will be Terry Poole, Michael Poole, Christian Poole, David Fox, William McIntyre, John Dippold and David Stebich.
Committal prayers will take place at the mausoleum at the St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery.