TULSA, Ok. – Margaret (“Peggy”) Beale Keller, 87, of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed away Thursday, December 16, 2010.

Born June 23, 1923 in Franklin, VA, she was the daughter of Evelyn Causey Lloyd and James Irving Beale. She was a graduate of Franklin H.S., St. Mary’s Junior College in Raleigh, NC, and Katherine Gibbs business school in Boston, MA.

During WWII, Peggy worked at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which developed the proximity fuse, and also worked in the family business, the Franklin Peanut Company.

In 1949, she married Dr. John Haney Keller III, M.D. of Ahoskie, NC. The couple had three children: Margaret Liluer Keller Seifried  (Tulsa), Johanna Beale Keller (Syracuse, NY), and John Haney Keller IV (Lakewood, CO). The family moved to Colorado in 1962.

Peggy Keller moved to Tulsa in 1985. She was known for her creativity, generosity, and wonderful sense of humor. She was a passionate gardener, volunteer, reader, friend to many, and a devoted mother to her three children who survive her.

Other survivors include her sister, Anne Beale Parmelee (Greenwich, CT); brother, Frank Lloyd Beale (Sandston, VA) and sister-in-law, Lucy Day Beale (Franklin, VA); granddaughter, Erica Jean Seifried Parks; and grandson, William Kurt Seifried, both of Tulsa.

A memorial service is planned for August 2010 in Franklin, VA.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Franklin Congregational Christian Church.

Condolences may be left online @ www.freemanharris.com.