June I. Keller

LATHAM-June Ida "Jody" Keller (Dandrow), age 83, passed away on February 16, 2015 after a long illness. Born in Mooers Forks, NY during the Great Depression, she became a ward of the State due to the breakup of her family and was placed in foster care, eventually finding a home with Dr. Harry Gideonse (President of Brooklyn College), his wife Edmee and their two sons Hendrik and Martin, in New York City, with whom she stayed until emancipated.
Jody joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1951, and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA where she met the love of her life, a fellow Marine, Sgt. Robert "Buck" Keller. They married in 1953, and Jody was honorably discharged soon after. They started a family and remained in Southern California until Buck was honorably discharged in 1965.
They moved the family to Sioux City, IA, where Buck's family was living, for a few years before settling in Plattsburgh, NY in the late-60s, where Jody's birth family was living. There they raised five children, Russell (Jeanne) of Syracuse, David (Ginny) of Sidney, Kathleen (Jay Passalacqua) of Las Vegas, John (Liz) of Albany, and Steven of Latham.
Jody was a gifted artist who loved painting, sculpture, writing and music. She attended and graduated from Our Lady of Victory Academy Secretarial School and began working at SUNY Plattsburgh in the Registrar's Office in 1974, soon after Buck began long-haul trucking across the country. In the early '80s, Jody took a job with the NYS Division for Youth in Albany, where Buck rejoined her in 1985, and she retired in 1993. Buck and Jody remained together until his death last August.
She was predeceased by her parents, Herbert Dandrow and Juno Strickland, her siblings Fleming, George, Vernon, Roxanne, Delores and Lassie, her husband Robert and her daughter Kathleen.
She is survived by her four sons, Russell, David, John and Steven, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Services were held at the convenience of the family.