Martha Lane Keesee, 85, passed from her earthly home into her heavenly home on November 3, 2024. She was born in Charlottesville VA and resided in Newport News VA attending Newport News High School and graduating in 1957. She began working at the VA Hospital in Hampton VA as a Ward Secretary. In 1960, she married Walter Clint Pine. They lived in Huntsville AL and Tallahassee FL before settling in Natchitoches LA. There, she worked as a kindergarten aide. Martha was an arts and crafts person and loved decorating and planning events at her church and at local festivals. She was a member of Westside Baptist Church in Natchitoches, LA.
In 2008, she married Tom Keesee and they traveled between Newport News and Natchitoches routinely. Martha was preceded in death by her parents, Alice and Clyde Magann; and her husband of 31 years, Walter Clint Pine. She is survived by her husband, Tom Keesee; twin sister, Mary Peters; sister in law, Connie Pine; daughter, Mary Ellen Welch (Michael); son, David Pine (Heather); grandchildren, Megann Lyberger (Andrew), Anna O’Conner (Nicholas), Michael Welch (Lacey), and Elora Pine; greatgrandchildren, Ellie Welch, Liam Welch, and Victoria Lyberger. She is also survived by Tom’s son, John Keesee (Kate); daughter, Judy Major (Richard); and grandchildren Aaron Beauchamp, Matthew Beauchamp, Samantha Major and Jackson Major.
A celebration of life will be held at Orcutt Baptist Church, 653 Baxter Lane, Newport News, VA on Monday, November 11, at 11:00 am. Burial will be in Natchitoches, LA.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Orcutt Baptist Church.
2 Comments
Mr. Tom,
First and foremost my sincere condolences to you and the families.
I was born and raised in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
There’s not enough room for me to share the stories. Mrs. Martha worked with one of my best friend’s Mom as a kindergarten aid and we attended Westside Baptist church together, but somehow never met. She also lived next door to another one of my childhood friends and his family on Highway 6.
Being a graduate of NSU and Vic the Demon, I knew Dr. Pine, but never had a class with him. I left Natchitoches in 1989 after the filming of Steel Magnolias to pursue my career (I actually lived on the North Carolina and Virginia border) on one of many of my stops. Fast forward to 2022 my wife from Northwest Arkansas and I bought the historic Sassafras Inn in the beautiful foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in Mena, Arkansas. Not a planned move, because Jillian wanted to move to Natchitoches…I called it divine intervention. That’s how we met Mr. Tom and Mrs. Martha! God puts people in front of others for a reason. She saw that I was from Natchitoches and the rest as they say is history.
They have stayed with us 8-10 times…we stopped counting and we stayed with them in Natchitoches. We called them our “adopted” grandparents and they treated us just like family. They encouraged Jillian to pursue her passion of baking…The Gingered Baker. Mrs. Martha looked forward to our weekly custom cake pictures and we also shipped them baked goods to Virginia as well. Jillian sent Mrs. Martha a lot of books to her iPad. They shared a lot of stories and talked about the books they had in common and life. When they stayed with us we went on many adventures to the Ouachita mountains and a lot of great places to eat. Never a dull moment and ones that will always be cherished.
We spent many a late night sharing stories of Natchitoches and their lives. We also played a lot of Quiddler with them as well…Mr. Tom please check the book to make sure I spelled that correctly. Both of them had more energy than either of us. We were proud to call them our extended family and spoke with them weekly. Mrs. Martha loved our Ragdoll cat Dottie named after Jillian’s Mom that passed away in 2018. She loved that cat! We always said that their lives should have been made into a Hallmark movie.
We look forward to continue our weekly conversations with Mr. Tom in Virginia.
Our thoughts and prayers to you all. We love them both dearly and
she will be dearly missed, but never forgotten.
RIP Mrs. Martha.
Love,
Darren & Jillian O’Bannon
We are so sad to hear of Martha’s passing. She and her twin sister Mary, were always such beautiful, precious people and young at heart. I knew the Magann family all my life at Orcutt Baptist. Our dad’s were schoolmates and her mom was Miss Nelson County, VA. My brother and sister in law cherished she and Tom’s friendship. Martha will be missed by many. Prayers for strength as you remember her, knowing you will see her again one day.