William Gerald Keenan, 85, of Zela, passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, March 25, 2022, following an extended illness.

Born on July 31, 1936 at home on Keenan Branch, he was the son of the late Russell Laverne Keenan and Grace Genevieve Copeland Keenan. Gerald was a 1955 graduate of Nicholas County High School where he qualified for national competition in the Future Farmers of America. He was a medical corpsman in the United States Army who reached the rank of E5, serving at Landstuhl Medical Center Army in Landstuhl, Germany; at Fort Ord, California; and at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, among other service stations. After his service in the armed forces, Gerald worked in the coal mines for decades and was a home farmer. He was a member of the Salem Baptist Church at Jones Branch where he served as deacon for more than 60 years as well as filling other offices.

He also was preceded in death by an infant brother and brothers Edward Paul Keenan, Russell Laverne Keenan Jr. and Robert Allen Keenan, sister Mary Louise Keenan Nichols and brothers-in-law, Claude Keenan and Carl Nichols.

Surviving: sons, David Gerald Keenan of Zela and Kenneth Eugene Keenan of Fayetteville, North Carolina; sisters, Carole Keenan of Gauley Bridge, Lynne Nichols of Cross Lanes and Kay Quifunas and her husband, Frank, of New Castle, Delaware; four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews and great-great-nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be conducted 11 a.m. Wednesday March 30 ^th in the Salem Baptist Church at Jones Branch with Pastor Joe Shaffer and Pastor Danny Legg officiating.  Burial with military honors will follow in the Keenan Cemetery.  Friends may call at the Waters Funeral Chapel in Summersville from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday evening.

www.watersfuneralchapel.com