Laura S. Keeling (Fitzsimmons)

Laura S. Keeling (née Fitzsimmons), age 63, of Lee’s Summit, MO died unexpectedly at her home on October 22, 2016 and is preceded in death by her parents, Fred F. Fitzsimmons and Mary Jane Fox Fitzsimmons. Laura is survived by her daughter, Sarah E. Keeling (Brad Roberson) and son, David M. Keeling; granddaughter Giuliana H. Roberson; siblings Claire Fitzsimmons, Sarah Gier (Joseph), Anne Fitzsimmons, Peter Fitzsimmons (Martha), Megan Linhares (Robert), Maureen Fitzsimmons, and Patricia Fitzsimmons; many nieces and nephews; and countless good friends, including Vickie Holden.

Laura was born in Kansas City, MO on September 25, 1953. She was a graduate of University of Missouri-Kansas City and worked for 45 years at the Kansas City Star. She was a devoted mother and grandmother and a beloved and trusted sister, friend, and coworker.

Through the years at The Star, Laura touched so many lives. She started as a fresh-faced kid in high school. She managed to wrangle herself into so many positions, mostly in Classified Advertising, from Real Estate sales to management. She excelled in managing her team, especially the troop in Obituaries. Her efficiency, but more importantly, her compassion to work with families and funeral homes qualified her as ace-number one with the team she led and mentored.

Her mind was quick and agile, always with a great retort. Folk at The Star may want to call some of her phrases as “Laura-isms” because she was famous for them. From “potato head” to “sweet potato” to “okie dokie donnamokie”, she always was a chipper skipper. Her email pic at work before she retired, was a “Mrs. Potato Head.” Obviously, her sense of humor and quick wit was appreciated by all and when she would sing a jingle to a commercial from 30 years ago and remember every word, we would begrudgingly tolerate it since we couldn’t remember the words. Laura knew her stuff, whether it was work, literature or pop-history. If it’s Trivia Night, her teammates couldn’t do any better than having Laura on their team! Simply put, she made being around her a joy!

One of her passions was reading. She read every book in sight and then some. Once she started with an author, she would read each book in chronological order, even if it wasn’t a series. She had to own the book and then keep it and never get rid of it. She tried an e-reader but that just wasn’t for her. She liked the feel of a book. She got to feel lots of books because she had a ton of them! Maybe not a ton but a 17’ wall of shelves stuffed with books. She never met a book she didn’t like.

Personally, Laura was best friends with Vickie Holden, who knew Laura since they were teenagers. They became closer as the years went by and eventually realized they were spiritual sisters. They could finish each other’s sentences or thoughts. If Vickie started to sound nasally, she would reply in a nasal voice, “Yeah. . .Wapner. . .” from the movie, Rain Man. Vickie knew it was from the movie and Laura knew Vickie knew it. It became a normal thing. There were a few times when lunch was suggested, either friend would drive to a restaurant not asking where to eat because it was one of their “go-to” places. Laura and Vickie were both okay with that.

She left a beautiful family and her great friends. She will be truly missed but those who knew and loved her will have so many great memories of her in the workplace, playing, attending Royals baseball or Chiefs football or Mizzou Tigers anything. They loved her and she loved them. Isn’t that what life is all about?

Visitation will be Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 9:00am followed by services at 10:00am at Speaks Suburban Chapel, 18020 E. 39th St, Independence, MO 64055. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the American Diabetes Association. https://donations.diabetes.org