Dorothy Cornelia Keeling

Thomasville, GA – Dorothy Cornelia Plemmons Keeling, 90, died Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at her home in Thomasville, GA. Mrs. Keeling was born in Biltmore Hospital in Asheville on August 15, 1915, to the late James Raymond Plemmons and Verda Plemmons McKenzie. She was personally named at birth by Mrs. George Vanderbilt. She was married to the late Orville Krome Keeling and also was preceded in death by a brother, George R. Plemmons. Mrs. Keeling enjoyed an outstanding retail management career in Asheville and was honored as the first woman nationally to be placed in the J.C. Penney Management Program. Mr. James Cash Penney (Founder) personally came to Asheville to present the award. She was a fashion buyer for J.C. Penney and Bon Marche and retired from John Carroll, after having trained many Asheville employees in the business. Mrs. Keeling was a fifty year member of First Baptist Church in Asheville and past president of Asheville Business Women’s Association. She was a loving mother and grandmother and is survived by a daughter, Doris Keeling Cunningham of Asheville; a son, George Harrison Keeling, and his wife Marjorie Clark Keeling, of Thomasville; six grandchildren; ten great grandchildren and a brother, John J. Plemmons of Centerville, TN. A memorial service will be conducted by the Rev. Dr. Guy Sayles at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the chapel of Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian, 72 Long Shoals Road, Arden. Private interment will be at Riverside Cemetery. Her family will receive friends at the funeral home from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Thursday. Flowers are acceptable or donations may be made to First Baptist Church, 5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC 28801.