Bessie Keller

Bessie V Vangeloff Keller, 85, of Port Charlotte, FL. passed peacefully on July 24th, 2019 at the Tidewell Hospice Home in Bradenton, Florida. Bessie was diagnosed with cancer in November of 2018 and given only a few months of life. Not one to give up easily, Bessie continued to enjoy her life for another 8 months, before complications of the disease took her.

Bessie was born in Mansfield, Ohio to Kostindine and Tana Shishcoff Vangeloff, January 14th, 1934. She was a graduate of Mansfield Senior High in 51 and Mansfield Business College in 53. She was one of few Trucking Freight Dispatchers in the area in the early ’60s working for Bender and Loudon Motor Freight. She married “Dick” Bates in 1960, who passed in one year of marriage. She married Jerry Keller in 1963 and they moved to Port Charlotte to start a new life. They had a bar and grill, called “Keller’s Keg on Tamiami Trail in the mid-’60s. She later was employed with the Port Charlotte Golf Club and retired from the Venice Yacht Club.

She was preceded in death by her brothers, Van Vangeloff and Cairl Vangleoff, and her sister, Eva Kimble. She leaves behind, her sister, Mary Anderson (James) of Summerville, SC. Her niece, Dr. Stacey Anderson of Yuma, AZ. And her nephew, James Anderson of Mt Pleasant, SC. And several other nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews.

Bessie was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Port Charlotte, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary, 9943, and the Port Charlotte Women of the Moose Auxiliary, 1619.

Bessie had a wide collection of angels and read her Bible and Devotions daily. She enjoyed life, loved music, dancing, the ocean, and the beach. Her ashes were sprinkled in the Peace River. So when you are walking the beach you can look out over the water and know that she is still with us all.