Great-grandmother, teacher, sports fan

Marlene Lucille Keith, age 86, of Claremont, died June 28.

Marlene was born on September 7, 1937 at home near Primrose, Iowa, the daughter of Martin L. Hohl and Ruth Anna (Schock) Hohl. She grew up on the family farm, attending Primrose Grade School and the Primrose Evangelical and Reformed Church.

She was a 1955 graduate of Donnellson High School and played on the first Donnellson team to make it to the six on six High School Girls State Basketball Tournament. She graduated from Iowa State Teachers College with an elementary education degree and later taught at Washington, Danville, and Solon, Iowa.

On June 14, 1960 she married Thomas L. Keith of Farmington, Iowa, in the Primrose Church. Life led them to Claremont, where their three daughters were born: Alicia Ann, Myrna Sue, and Marjorie Ruth. She was a homemaker and later worked at a law firm until her retirement.

She was a longtime member and president of the local chapter of Executive Women’s International, an organization promoting women in business. She was a sports enthusiast and enjoyed keeping up with current sports events. In the last couple of years she particularly enjoyed following Shohei Ohtani and Caitlin Clark.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Howard, who died in the 1955 polio epidemic.

Surviving her are her daughters Alicia Keith of Claremont, Myrna (Bob) Dodd of Crawfordsville, Iowa, and Margie Keith (Chuck Moffit) of Claremont; grandsons Robert and Kyle, both of Iowa City, Iowa, and Dillon (Yoko); great-grandsons Judah and Lukas Dodd of Okinawa, Japan; sister Myrna (David) Folker of Primrose, Iowa; brother Stephen (Jill) Hohl of Donnellson, Iowa; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was a faithful member of Claremont United Church of Christ where a celebration of life service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 18 in Kingman Chapel, 233 Harrison Ave., Claremont, CA 91711. Her final resting place will be in CUCC’s Memorial Garden.