TERRE HAUTE – Margaret A. (Maggie) Walker Hancock Keller passed away peacefully in her sleep at her step-daughter's home in the early morning of Thursday, December 23rd, 2022. Maggie was a shining example of the type of love, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and empathy that exemplifies the good in humanity.
Maggie was born on November 19, 1947, in Terre Haute, Indiana to parents Charles (Charlie) and Edith (Hopton) Walker. She was welcomed home by older brother, Jim Walker, who passed away on August 22, 2022. Charlie was the groundskeeper for the Hulman family, and Maggie was raised on the Hulman farm where her love for horses and animals began.
She graduated from Gerstmeyer High School in 1965. She was a proud "Black Cat-er" and was not afraid to let you know. We're pretty sure she majored in race car driving in her little convertible which she would load up with girlfriends and drive up and down "the 'Bash" on the weekend. She had a tight-knit group of friends from high school that remained with her through-out her life. She was very active with the Gerstmeyer reunion committee and yearly golf outing scholarship fundraiser. We used to laugh and say she must have been in high school at least ten years because everywhere we went, it never failed that she would meet someone she knew and talk to them like they were family. We would ask her who it was and she would tell us their name and say, "I went to High School with them." We would say, "Of course you did!"
Maggie married Dave Hancock on Friday, April 13, 1971. (Go figure). When they were unable to have children of their own, they adopted three children who very badly needed loving homes. Charles Chuck Benjamin Hancock was the first to be welcomed into their home. He was almost two and-a-half years old with severe mental disabilities and profound developmental delays. He had to learn to crawl before he could walk. He could not speak. Our dad always used to laugh and say maybe she should have cut those speech therapy sessions off sooner, because anyone who knows Chuck, knows he hasn't stopped talking since. She got Jeffrey (Jeff) David Hancock (deceased) when he was only six months old. Jeff died of a rare kidney disease when he was 35 years old, leaving five children behind who were the light of Maggie's life. She adopted Amy Elizabeth Hancock when Amy was 2 years old. She was a tiny, beautiful little girl who Maggie enjoyed dressing like a doll. Amy has four children. While they didn't live close, they were just as loved.
Chuck's special needs started a long, close relationship with ARC along with the other kids and parents from the ARC – including life-long high school friend, Norm Lowery. She fought for inclusion in schools for Chuck and through her tireless efforts, she was able to have him integrated into regular classes where he had close, lasting relationships with his classmates, including Jimmy Cruse, Joe Harburger, Greg Hines and T.J. Nicoson. They all graduated together in 1993. Maggie was also an advocate for other parents and kids involved with ARC and was on the board of ARC for several years. She was even responsible for a new law being passed in Indiana.
Maggie was very involved in 4-H and Chuck had many ribbons and trophies for showing horses and other farm animals. Her love for animals on her two acre mini farm included a horse named Ginger, a donkey, a pony named Danny Boy and one named Joy, rabbits, goats, lots of kittens and stray dogs and her first white German shepherd, Billy Vaughn, who came with her from the Hulman Farm. Most of
them are buried on that land somewhere. She used to laugh and say, "If you come to this two acres to live, you're going to die and be buried here." Thank God she didn't die there.
Life happened and Maggie was divorced and was raising three young kids on her own while working at Columbia House and caring for her elderly father who had had a stroke and lived in her rental house next door. He would walk over every evening for dinner. If it wasn't ready (after she had worked all day), he would say, "Ah piss on you." and walk back home. He always came back and she cared for him until the day he died. She also went back to school and got an accounting degree from Ivy Tech during that time.
A few years later, she was helping with lunches at the Canopy Club when she was reacquainted with the love of her life, our father, John Keller. She actually had worked for him years earlier at Columbia House. They dated for several years and were married in 1995 where our two families became one. My sister and I had the best mom we could ask for with Nancy Keller, but she passed away December 6, 1986. We like to say we were blessed with another mom who loved us and our kids and their kids like we were her own. The thing about having two wonderful moms is having to say goodbye to two moms. John and Maggie were married for 13 years before he passed away in 2009. There were a few times she had to take care of him and did so with much love. At the end of his last illness, he just wanted to go home, and she made sure that happened. She gave him much happiness in his "golden years".
Maggie turned her love of animals into a business when she started breeding and showing white german shepherds and opened a doggy day care. Her kennel was called Von Lunsford after the white German shepherd our dad got her, J. T. (John Thomas) Von Lunsford. She sold and shipped dogs all over the country. She had a map of the United States with push pins for every new location. When she could no longer show or breed her beloved white German shepherds, she still had a few faithful doggy day care clients – except then doggy day care was pretty much the run of the house.
Maggie loved children. She would take anyone who needed a home in from nieces to grandchildren to extended family. All were welcome for a meal and a swim. Maggie became the guardian of her 4 year old great-granddaughter when she was 71 years old. When the house and property got to be too much for her to care for, we moved her to Rockford in June of this year to be closer to Lori. She was settling into her new home and enjoyed making it her own. She had a knack for decorating and loved her Tell City furniture and mixing rustic antiques in with them.
Maggie is preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband John, her adored son Jeff, her brother Jim, special granddaughter Caitie Beth, grandson Eric Keller, her special cousin and best buddy Bill Hopton, and her best friend Lynn Nicoson.
She is survived by her son Chuck 48; Daughter-in-Law Kim Hancock (children Breanna {daughter Brailyn}, Jeffrey Hancock, Madison Hancock {daughter Lamaya}, and Mackenzie Hancock; daughter-in-law Andrea Hancock (daughter Cami); daughter Amy (children Sara {Sarah's son Dean}, Grace, Pierce and William; Step-son Michael (Mary) Keller and their children Diane (Diane's children Lily, Lexi, and twins Austin and Alyssa) Jessica {Johnny) Joseph (children Gavin and Chase) Johnny (Shelby) Todd (children Ruby; Step-son Steve (Tina) Keller (children Jonna (Tim) Areson, (children Spencer (Shelbi) Areson, and Mercedes (Graeff) Phillips, Eric Keller's children (Eric, Dillon and Kraemer) Jessica Keller and son Eli; Step-daughter Patty Keller (children Brettainy Kasemeyer (Mark Seprodi) and Josh Kasemeyer (son Ian (Tori) Kasemeyer and their children Jozelyn and Emersyn; Step-daughter Lori (Gary) Sibigtroth and their children Dr.
Christy (Ryan) Toudebusch , Dr. Emily (David) Bruigoni and their daughter Luciana, and Andrew (Kristyn) Sibigtroth and their children Max and Zac.
Maggie is also survived by her "little cousins" Debbie, Leslie, Little Maggie, Brian Hopton and Stacy Hopton who all called her Aunt Maggie, her lifelong friend of 63 years Kay Hunt and husband Tom, and best of friends and cousin-in-law Marlene Hopton, special friends Sue (Harold) Hoffman and Lynn Hargis, and all of her good friends in the White German Shepherd World.
Mom worked hard caring for her home and family. She never met a stranger or forgot anyone in her prayers. She will be missed!
Please join us in celebrating her life on Friday, December 30, 2022. Services will be at Greiner Funeral Home, 2005 N. 13th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana 47804. Visitation will be from 11:00 to 1:00 with the funeral immediately following.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Gerstmeyer 1965 Scholarship Fund. Envelopes will be provided at the funeral home
Maggie was born on November 19, 1947, in Terre Haute, Indiana to parents Charles (Charlie) and Edith (Hopton) Walker. She was welcomed home by older brother, Jim Walker, who passed away on August 22, 2022. Charlie was the groundskeeper for the Hulman family, and Maggie was raised on the Hulman farm where her love for horses and animals began.
She graduated from Gerstmeyer High School in 1965. She was a proud "Black Cat-er" and was not afraid to let you know. We're pretty sure she majored in race car driving in her little convertible which she would load up with girlfriends and drive up and down "the 'Bash" on the weekend. She had a tight-knit group of friends from high school that remained with her through-out her life. She was very active with the Gerstmeyer reunion committee and yearly golf outing scholarship fundraiser. We used to laugh and say she must have been in high school at least ten years because everywhere we went, it never failed that she would meet someone she knew and talk to them like they were family. We would ask her who it was and she would tell us their name and say, "I went to High School with them." We would say, "Of course you did!"
Maggie married Dave Hancock on Friday, April 13, 1971. (Go figure). When they were unable to have children of their own, they adopted three children who very badly needed loving homes. Charles Chuck Benjamin Hancock was the first to be welcomed into their home. He was almost two and-a-half years old with severe mental disabilities and profound developmental delays. He had to learn to crawl before he could walk. He could not speak. Our dad always used to laugh and say maybe she should have cut those speech therapy sessions off sooner, because anyone who knows Chuck, knows he hasn't stopped talking since. She got Jeffrey (Jeff) David Hancock (deceased) when he was only six months old. Jeff died of a rare kidney disease when he was 35 years old, leaving five children behind who were the light of Maggie's life. She adopted Amy Elizabeth Hancock when Amy was 2 years old. She was a tiny, beautiful little girl who Maggie enjoyed dressing like a doll. Amy has four children. While they didn't live close, they were just as loved.
Chuck's special needs started a long, close relationship with ARC along with the other kids and parents from the ARC – including life-long high school friend, Norm Lowery. She fought for inclusion in schools for Chuck and through her tireless efforts, she was able to have him integrated into regular classes where he had close, lasting relationships with his classmates, including Jimmy Cruse, Joe Harburger, Greg Hines and T.J. Nicoson. They all graduated together in 1993. Maggie was also an advocate for other parents and kids involved with ARC and was on the board of ARC for several years. She was even responsible for a new law being passed in Indiana.
Maggie was very involved in 4-H and Chuck had many ribbons and trophies for showing horses and other farm animals. Her love for animals on her two acre mini farm included a horse named Ginger, a donkey, a pony named Danny Boy and one named Joy, rabbits, goats, lots of kittens and stray dogs and her first white German shepherd, Billy Vaughn, who came with her from the Hulman Farm. Most of
them are buried on that land somewhere. She used to laugh and say, "If you come to this two acres to live, you're going to die and be buried here." Thank God she didn't die there.
Life happened and Maggie was divorced and was raising three young kids on her own while working at Columbia House and caring for her elderly father who had had a stroke and lived in her rental house next door. He would walk over every evening for dinner. If it wasn't ready (after she had worked all day), he would say, "Ah piss on you." and walk back home. He always came back and she cared for him until the day he died. She also went back to school and got an accounting degree from Ivy Tech during that time.
A few years later, she was helping with lunches at the Canopy Club when she was reacquainted with the love of her life, our father, John Keller. She actually had worked for him years earlier at Columbia House. They dated for several years and were married in 1995 where our two families became one. My sister and I had the best mom we could ask for with Nancy Keller, but she passed away December 6, 1986. We like to say we were blessed with another mom who loved us and our kids and their kids like we were her own. The thing about having two wonderful moms is having to say goodbye to two moms. John and Maggie were married for 13 years before he passed away in 2009. There were a few times she had to take care of him and did so with much love. At the end of his last illness, he just wanted to go home, and she made sure that happened. She gave him much happiness in his "golden years".
Maggie turned her love of animals into a business when she started breeding and showing white german shepherds and opened a doggy day care. Her kennel was called Von Lunsford after the white German shepherd our dad got her, J. T. (John Thomas) Von Lunsford. She sold and shipped dogs all over the country. She had a map of the United States with push pins for every new location. When she could no longer show or breed her beloved white German shepherds, she still had a few faithful doggy day care clients – except then doggy day care was pretty much the run of the house.
Maggie loved children. She would take anyone who needed a home in from nieces to grandchildren to extended family. All were welcome for a meal and a swim. Maggie became the guardian of her 4 year old great-granddaughter when she was 71 years old. When the house and property got to be too much for her to care for, we moved her to Rockford in June of this year to be closer to Lori. She was settling into her new home and enjoyed making it her own. She had a knack for decorating and loved her Tell City furniture and mixing rustic antiques in with them.
Maggie is preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband John, her adored son Jeff, her brother Jim, special granddaughter Caitie Beth, grandson Eric Keller, her special cousin and best buddy Bill Hopton, and her best friend Lynn Nicoson.
She is survived by her son Chuck 48; Daughter-in-Law Kim Hancock (children Breanna {daughter Brailyn}, Jeffrey Hancock, Madison Hancock {daughter Lamaya}, and Mackenzie Hancock; daughter-in-law Andrea Hancock (daughter Cami); daughter Amy (children Sara {Sarah's son Dean}, Grace, Pierce and William; Step-son Michael (Mary) Keller and their children Diane (Diane's children Lily, Lexi, and twins Austin and Alyssa) Jessica {Johnny) Joseph (children Gavin and Chase) Johnny (Shelby) Todd (children Ruby; Step-son Steve (Tina) Keller (children Jonna (Tim) Areson, (children Spencer (Shelbi) Areson, and Mercedes (Graeff) Phillips, Eric Keller's children (Eric, Dillon and Kraemer) Jessica Keller and son Eli; Step-daughter Patty Keller (children Brettainy Kasemeyer (Mark Seprodi) and Josh Kasemeyer (son Ian (Tori) Kasemeyer and their children Jozelyn and Emersyn; Step-daughter Lori (Gary) Sibigtroth and their children Dr.
Christy (Ryan) Toudebusch , Dr. Emily (David) Bruigoni and their daughter Luciana, and Andrew (Kristyn) Sibigtroth and their children Max and Zac.
Maggie is also survived by her "little cousins" Debbie, Leslie, Little Maggie, Brian Hopton and Stacy Hopton who all called her Aunt Maggie, her lifelong friend of 63 years Kay Hunt and husband Tom, and best of friends and cousin-in-law Marlene Hopton, special friends Sue (Harold) Hoffman and Lynn Hargis, and all of her good friends in the White German Shepherd World.
Mom worked hard caring for her home and family. She never met a stranger or forgot anyone in her prayers. She will be missed!
Please join us in celebrating her life on Friday, December 30, 2022. Services will be at Greiner Funeral Home, 2005 N. 13th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana 47804. Visitation will be from 11:00 to 1:00 with the funeral immediately following.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Gerstmeyer 1965 Scholarship Fund. Envelopes will be provided at the funeral home
TERRE HAUTE – Margaret A. (Maggie) Walker Hancock Keller passed away peacefully in her sleep at her step-daughter's home in the early morning of Thursday, December 23rd, 2022. Maggie was a shining example of the type of love, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and empathy that exemplifies the good in humanity.
Maggie was born on November 19, 1947, in Terre Haute, Indiana to parents Charles (Charlie) and Edith (Hopton) Walker. She was welcomed home by older brother, Jim Walker, who passed away on August 22, 2022. Charlie was the groundskeeper for the Hulman family, and Maggie was raised on the Hulman farm where her love for horses and animals began.
She graduated from Gerstmeyer High School in 1965. She was a proud "Black Cat-er" and was not afraid to let you know. We're pretty sure she majored in race car driving in her little convertible which she would load up with girlfriends and drive up and down "the 'Bash" on the weekend. She had a tight-knit group of friends from high school that remained with her through-out her life. She was very active with the Gerstmeyer reunion committee and yearly golf outing scholarship fundraiser. We used to laugh and say she must have been in high school at least ten years because everywhere we went, it never failed that she would meet someone she knew and talk to them like they were family. We would ask her who it was and she would tell us their name and say, "I went to High School with them." We would say, "Of course you did!"
Maggie married Dave Hancock on Friday, April 13, 1971. (Go figure). When they were unable to have children of their own, they adopted three children who very badly needed loving homes. Charles Chuck Benjamin Hancock was the first to be welcomed into their home. He was almost two and-a-half years old with severe mental disabilities and profound developmental delays. He had to learn to crawl before he could walk. He could not speak. Our dad always used to laugh and say maybe she should have cut those speech therapy sessions off sooner, because anyone who knows Chuck, knows he hasn't stopped talking since. She got Jeffrey (Jeff) David Hancock (deceased) when he was only six months old. Jeff died of a rare kidney disease when he was 35 years old, leaving five children behind who were the light of Maggie's life. She adopted Amy Elizabeth Hancock when Amy was 2 years old. She was a tiny, beautiful little girl who Maggie enjoyed dressing like a doll. Amy has four children. While they didn't live close, they were just as loved.
Chuck's special needs started a long, close relationship with ARC along with the other kids and parents from the ARC – including life-long high school friend, Norm Lowery. She fought for inclusion in schools for Chuck and through her tireless efforts, she was able to have him integrated into regular classes where he had close, lasting relationships with his classmates, including Jimmy Cruse, Joe Harburger, Greg Hines and T.J. Nicoson. They all graduated together in 1993. Maggie was also an advocate for other parents and kids involved with ARC and was on the board of ARC for several years. She was even responsible for a new law being passed in Indiana.
Maggie was very involved in 4-H and Chuck had many ribbons and trophies for showing horses and other farm animals. Her love for animals on her two acre mini farm included a horse named Ginger, a donkey, a pony named Danny Boy and one named Joy, rabbits, goats, lots of kittens and stray dogs and her first white German shepherd, Billy Vaughn, who came with her from the Hulman Farm. Most of
them are buried on that land somewhere. She used to laugh and say, "If you come to this two acres to live, you're going to die and be buried here." Thank God she didn't die there.
Life happened and Maggie was divorced and was raising three young kids on her own while working at Columbia House and caring for her elderly father who had had a stroke and lived in her rental house next door. He would walk over every evening for dinner. If it wasn't ready (after she had worked all day), he would say, "Ah piss on you." and walk back home. He always came back and she cared for him until the day he died. She also went back to school and got an accounting degree from Ivy Tech during that time.
A few years later, she was helping with lunches at the Canopy Club when she was reacquainted with the love of her life, our father, John Keller. She actually had worked for him years earlier at Columbia House. They dated for several years and were married in 1995 where our two families became one. My sister and I had the best mom we could ask for with Nancy Keller, but she passed away December 6, 1986. We like to say we were blessed with another mom who loved us and our kids and their kids like we were her own. The thing about having two wonderful moms is having to say goodbye to two moms. John and Maggie were married for 13 years before he passed away in 2009. There were a few times she had to take care of him and did so with much love. At the end of his last illness, he just wanted to go home, and she made sure that happened. She gave him much happiness in his "golden years".
Maggie turned her love of animals into a business when she started breeding and showing white german shepherds and opened a doggy day care. Her kennel was called Von Lunsford after the white German shepherd our dad got her, J. T. (John Thomas) Von Lunsford. She sold and shipped dogs all over the country. She had a map of the United States with push pins for every new location. When she could no longer show or breed her beloved white German shepherds, she still had a few faithful doggy day care clients – except then doggy day care was pretty much the run of the house.
Maggie loved children. She would take anyone who needed a home in from nieces to grandchildren to extended family. All were welcome for a meal and a swim. Maggie became the guardian of her 4 year old great-granddaughter when she was 71 years old. When the house and property got to be too much for her to care for, we moved her to Rockford in June of this year to be closer to Lori. She was settling into her new home and enjoyed making it her own. She had a knack for decorating and loved her Tell City furniture and mixing rustic antiques in with them.
Maggie is preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband John, her adored son Jeff, her brother Jim, special granddaughter Caitie Beth, grandson Eric Keller, her special cousin and best buddy Bill Hopton, and her best friend Lynn Nicoson.
She is survived by her son Chuck 48; Daughter-in-Law Kim Hancock (children Breanna {daughter Brailyn}, Jeffrey Hancock, Madison Hancock {daughter Lamaya}, and Mackenzie Hancock; daughter-in-law Andrea Hancock (daughter Cami); daughter Amy (children Sara {Sarah's son Dean}, Grace, Pierce and William; Step-son Michael (Mary) Keller and their children Diane (Diane's children Lily, Lexi, and twins Austin and Alyssa) Jessica {Johnny) Joseph (children Gavin and Chase) Johnny (Shelby) Todd (children Ruby; Step-son Steve (Tina) Keller (children Jonna (Tim) Areson, (children Spencer (Shelbi) Areson, and Mercedes (Graeff) Phillips, Eric Keller's children (Eric, Dillon and Kraemer) Jessica Keller and son Eli; Step-daughter Patty Keller (children Brettainy Kasemeyer (Mark Seprodi) and Josh Kasemeyer (son Ian (Tori) Kasemeyer and their children Jozelyn and Emersyn; Step-daughter Lori (Gary) Sibigtroth and their children Dr.
Christy (Ryan) Toudebusch , Dr. Emily (David) Bruigoni and their daughter Luciana, and Andrew (Kristyn) Sibigtroth and their children Max and Zac.
Maggie is also survived by her "little cousins" Debbie, Leslie, Little Maggie, Brian Hopton and Stacy Hopton who all called her Aunt Maggie, her lifelong friend of 63 years Kay Hunt and husband Tom, and best of friends and cousin-in-law Marlene Hopton, special friends Sue (Harold) Hoffman and Lynn Hargis, and all of her good friends in the White German Shepherd World.
Mom worked hard caring for her home and family. She never met a stranger or forgot anyone in her prayers. She will be missed!
Please join us in celebrating her life on Friday, December 30, 2022. Services will be at Greiner Funeral Home, 2005 N. 13th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana 47804. Visitation will be from 11:00 to 1:00 with the funeral immediately following.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Gerstmeyer 1965 Scholarship Fund. Envelopes will be provided at the funeral home
Maggie was born on November 19, 1947, in Terre Haute, Indiana to parents Charles (Charlie) and Edith (Hopton) Walker. She was welcomed home by older brother, Jim Walker, who passed away on August 22, 2022. Charlie was the groundskeeper for the Hulman family, and Maggie was raised on the Hulman farm where her love for horses and animals began.
She graduated from Gerstmeyer High School in 1965. She was a proud "Black Cat-er" and was not afraid to let you know. We're pretty sure she majored in race car driving in her little convertible which she would load up with girlfriends and drive up and down "the 'Bash" on the weekend. She had a tight-knit group of friends from high school that remained with her through-out her life. She was very active with the Gerstmeyer reunion committee and yearly golf outing scholarship fundraiser. We used to laugh and say she must have been in high school at least ten years because everywhere we went, it never failed that she would meet someone she knew and talk to them like they were family. We would ask her who it was and she would tell us their name and say, "I went to High School with them." We would say, "Of course you did!"
Maggie married Dave Hancock on Friday, April 13, 1971. (Go figure). When they were unable to have children of their own, they adopted three children who very badly needed loving homes. Charles Chuck Benjamin Hancock was the first to be welcomed into their home. He was almost two and-a-half years old with severe mental disabilities and profound developmental delays. He had to learn to crawl before he could walk. He could not speak. Our dad always used to laugh and say maybe she should have cut those speech therapy sessions off sooner, because anyone who knows Chuck, knows he hasn't stopped talking since. She got Jeffrey (Jeff) David Hancock (deceased) when he was only six months old. Jeff died of a rare kidney disease when he was 35 years old, leaving five children behind who were the light of Maggie's life. She adopted Amy Elizabeth Hancock when Amy was 2 years old. She was a tiny, beautiful little girl who Maggie enjoyed dressing like a doll. Amy has four children. While they didn't live close, they were just as loved.
Chuck's special needs started a long, close relationship with ARC along with the other kids and parents from the ARC – including life-long high school friend, Norm Lowery. She fought for inclusion in schools for Chuck and through her tireless efforts, she was able to have him integrated into regular classes where he had close, lasting relationships with his classmates, including Jimmy Cruse, Joe Harburger, Greg Hines and T.J. Nicoson. They all graduated together in 1993. Maggie was also an advocate for other parents and kids involved with ARC and was on the board of ARC for several years. She was even responsible for a new law being passed in Indiana.
Maggie was very involved in 4-H and Chuck had many ribbons and trophies for showing horses and other farm animals. Her love for animals on her two acre mini farm included a horse named Ginger, a donkey, a pony named Danny Boy and one named Joy, rabbits, goats, lots of kittens and stray dogs and her first white German shepherd, Billy Vaughn, who came with her from the Hulman Farm. Most of
them are buried on that land somewhere. She used to laugh and say, "If you come to this two acres to live, you're going to die and be buried here." Thank God she didn't die there.
Life happened and Maggie was divorced and was raising three young kids on her own while working at Columbia House and caring for her elderly father who had had a stroke and lived in her rental house next door. He would walk over every evening for dinner. If it wasn't ready (after she had worked all day), he would say, "Ah piss on you." and walk back home. He always came back and she cared for him until the day he died. She also went back to school and got an accounting degree from Ivy Tech during that time.
A few years later, she was helping with lunches at the Canopy Club when she was reacquainted with the love of her life, our father, John Keller. She actually had worked for him years earlier at Columbia House. They dated for several years and were married in 1995 where our two families became one. My sister and I had the best mom we could ask for with Nancy Keller, but she passed away December 6, 1986. We like to say we were blessed with another mom who loved us and our kids and their kids like we were her own. The thing about having two wonderful moms is having to say goodbye to two moms. John and Maggie were married for 13 years before he passed away in 2009. There were a few times she had to take care of him and did so with much love. At the end of his last illness, he just wanted to go home, and she made sure that happened. She gave him much happiness in his "golden years".
Maggie turned her love of animals into a business when she started breeding and showing white german shepherds and opened a doggy day care. Her kennel was called Von Lunsford after the white German shepherd our dad got her, J. T. (John Thomas) Von Lunsford. She sold and shipped dogs all over the country. She had a map of the United States with push pins for every new location. When she could no longer show or breed her beloved white German shepherds, she still had a few faithful doggy day care clients – except then doggy day care was pretty much the run of the house.
Maggie loved children. She would take anyone who needed a home in from nieces to grandchildren to extended family. All were welcome for a meal and a swim. Maggie became the guardian of her 4 year old great-granddaughter when she was 71 years old. When the house and property got to be too much for her to care for, we moved her to Rockford in June of this year to be closer to Lori. She was settling into her new home and enjoyed making it her own. She had a knack for decorating and loved her Tell City furniture and mixing rustic antiques in with them.
Maggie is preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband John, her adored son Jeff, her brother Jim, special granddaughter Caitie Beth, grandson Eric Keller, her special cousin and best buddy Bill Hopton, and her best friend Lynn Nicoson.
She is survived by her son Chuck 48; Daughter-in-Law Kim Hancock (children Breanna {daughter Brailyn}, Jeffrey Hancock, Madison Hancock {daughter Lamaya}, and Mackenzie Hancock; daughter-in-law Andrea Hancock (daughter Cami); daughter Amy (children Sara {Sarah's son Dean}, Grace, Pierce and William; Step-son Michael (Mary) Keller and their children Diane (Diane's children Lily, Lexi, and twins Austin and Alyssa) Jessica {Johnny) Joseph (children Gavin and Chase) Johnny (Shelby) Todd (children Ruby; Step-son Steve (Tina) Keller (children Jonna (Tim) Areson, (children Spencer (Shelbi) Areson, and Mercedes (Graeff) Phillips, Eric Keller's children (Eric, Dillon and Kraemer) Jessica Keller and son Eli; Step-daughter Patty Keller (children Brettainy Kasemeyer (Mark Seprodi) and Josh Kasemeyer (son Ian (Tori) Kasemeyer and their children Jozelyn and Emersyn; Step-daughter Lori (Gary) Sibigtroth and their children Dr.
Christy (Ryan) Toudebusch , Dr. Emily (David) Bruigoni and their daughter Luciana, and Andrew (Kristyn) Sibigtroth and their children Max and Zac.
Maggie is also survived by her "little cousins" Debbie, Leslie, Little Maggie, Brian Hopton and Stacy Hopton who all called her Aunt Maggie, her lifelong friend of 63 years Kay Hunt and husband Tom, and best of friends and cousin-in-law Marlene Hopton, special friends Sue (Harold) Hoffman and Lynn Hargis, and all of her good friends in the White German Shepherd World.
Mom worked hard caring for her home and family. She never met a stranger or forgot anyone in her prayers. She will be missed!
Please join us in celebrating her life on Friday, December 30, 2022. Services will be at Greiner Funeral Home, 2005 N. 13th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana 47804. Visitation will be from 11:00 to 1:00 with the funeral immediately following.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Gerstmeyer 1965 Scholarship Fund. Envelopes will be provided at the funeral home
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