Rita F. (Babic) Keefe

Rita F. Keefe, nee Babic, 66, of Belleville, died Monday, February 26, 2018 at her home surrounded by her family. 

Rita was born November 14, 1951 in Granite City. She was a woman who had a strong sense of right and wrong.  She admired kindness and the truth.  She would not tolerate a phony nor abide a dark heart.  She was blessed with limitless energy and a strong sense of duty.   She believed in the importance of a safe, secure and loving environment for her family.  No one worked harder to provide that, and she raised her husband and their children in a home which she filled with endless examples of how to live a good life. 

Rita was not a talker - - she was a doer.  She lost her dad when she was 16, and she went to work, and she kept working until the day she died.  She never sought the spotlight.  Her greatest satisfaction came in doing for others.  In November she was diagnosed with cancer.  In the final days of her life, she showed us what it meant to be tough, courageous and strong.  

 She was a class act, and to those of us who knew and loved her best, she was perfect. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Bernice, nee Mendrys, Babic. 

Rita is survived by her husband, Thomas Q. Keefe, Jr.; her children, Thomas Q. Keefe, III (Jennifer Mann) of Godfrey, Courtney Keefe of St. Louis, Kelli (Clay) Spoeneman of St. Louis, and Matthew Keefe (Samantha Unsell) of Belleville; her grandsons, Max Keefe and Jack Spoeneman; her granddaughter, baby girl Keefe, due in August 2018; her sisters Rosemary (Carl) Allison of Springfield, MO, and Susan (Mark) Carnoali of Chesterfield; and other family and treasured friends too numerous to mention. 

The family would like to specially acknowledge the excellence of the entire medical team including Drs. Jimmy Vest, Jimmy Wade, Memo Rodriguez, Tim Mahmood, Vasantha Pai, and the many fine folks at Memorial Hospital. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Catholic Urban Programs. 

Visitation will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 2, 2018 at Kassly Mortuary in Fairview Heights. 

A funeral procession will leave Kassly at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 3, 2018 for a mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. at St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Belleville.  Interment in Lake View Memorial Gardens in Fairview Heights.

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