Sherry Keeling

Mrs. Sherry Warwick Keeling fell asleep in the Lord at Dogwood Trails Assisted Living and Memory Care on Saturday January 31, 2026, at 6:30 PM. Born January 2, 1950, in Minden, Louisiana to Vollie and Lorene Warwick, she was 76 years old.

Sherry was an honor student who graduated salutatorian at Minden High School in the class of 1968. She was an outstanding student and proud member of the Minden High Louisi-Annes Drill Team. Sherry earned academic accolades in high school where she participated in the National Future Business Leaders of America Spelling Contest and was also selected by the faculty to attend Louisiana Girls State in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Upon graduation, Sherry was awarded a full academic scholarship to attend Northeastern State University in Monroe, Louisiana.

In 1964 Sherry met a skinny boy from Texas named Johnnie, and by the spring of 1965 that young man decided he needed to get a driver's license so he could ask Sherry out on a date. They became sweethearts and in 1970 they were married. After marriage, she gave up her academic scholarship because at that time you could not be married and keep the scholarship. They moved to Pineville, Louisiana where Johnnie was enrolled as a history education major at Louisiana College. In 1972, shortly after the birth of their first child (John Keeling) they moved to Elkhart Texas where Johnnie began a 31-year career with Elkhart I.S.D. and Sherry began her career at the Elkhart State Bank where she worked for the next 37 years.

In 1976 they welcomed their second child (Christine Keeling) and thus began a lifetime of watching their kids compete in a myriad of sporting and academic events all over east Texas and the country. From t-ball, track, and football to one-act-play, basketball and softball - life revolved around watching their kids perform and compete. That joy was multiplied when they were blessed with granddaughters Gabriela and Madeline Keeling. They continued to make trips all over Texas to watch cross country meets, track meets, theater performances, and orchestra concerts. Sherry's children and grandchildren (her "chickadees" as she called them) were her sunshine.

Sherry was also an accomplished musician and began serving the Lord with that gift by becoming the church pianist at Southside Baptist Church in Minden, Louisiana at age 11. She began playing the piano at First Baptist Elkhart in 1973 and did so until 2022 when her health no longer allowed her to continue. She served with many pastors, choir directors, and choirs over the years. Sherry played at weddings, funerals, revivals, Easter cantatas and Christmas services over the decades. Serving other people and the Lord with her musical gifts was a joy in her life.

Upon retirement Sherry continued her lifelong hobby of sewing. She created dresses and outfits for decades and her children have fond memories of her spending hours on her sewing machine. When she wasn't sewing she and Johnnie spent the last 25 years traveling all over the country. If they weren't traveling, they were sipping coffee on their back porch, petting their dogs and cats, or watching the deer and hummingbirds. Johnnie and Sherry were more than husband and wife, they would tell you they were best friends.

Sherry is survived by her husband of 56 years Johnnie Keeling of Elkhart, Texas. She is also survived by her son John Keeling, daughter-in-law Bonita Keeling and granddaughters Gabriela "Ela" and Madeline "Maddie" Keeling of Tyler, Texas. She also leaves behind her devoted daughter Christine Keeling of Cincinnati, Ohio. Additionally, Sherry leaves behind her younger brother Steve Warwick of Minden, Louisiana. She is preceded in death by her parents Vollie and Lorene Warwick.

The family will receive friends during a visitation from five o'clock until seven o'clock in the evening on Monday, February 2, 2026, at Rhone Funeral Home.

Funeral services to celebrate Sherry Keeling's life are to be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, in the Rhone Memorial Chapel with Bro. Jason Hoffman officiating the service. Interment will follow in Pilgrim Cemetery.

Those honored to serve as pallbearers are Dwight Franklin, Greg Herring, Wayne Stewart, Danny Andrews, Jerry Dotson, and Jody Taylor. Honorary pallbearers include Eddie Young, Fred Henderson, Bobby Stovall, John Dotson, Greg Chapin, and Tom Oliver.

Funeral services for Sherry Warwick Keeling are in care of Rhone Funeral Home, 3900 S. State Highway 19, Palestine, Texas. Please visit her online memorial tribute at www.rhonefuneralhome.com, where words of comfort and condolence may be shared electronically with her family.