Alice Vaughan Keith

A memorial service for Alice Elizabeth Keith will be held at Buckner Calder Woods in Beaumont, Texas at 1:00pm on Saturday, March 30th. Chaplain Mike Wood will be officiating.  Mrs. Keith passed away peacefully in Beaumont on Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Alice was born at St. Mary Hospital in Port Arthur, Texas. She was the only child of Dr. Edward W. Vaughan of Kentucky and Myrtle Lee Barnes of Lampasas, Texas. Myrtle Barnes was the daughter of Alice Willingham and William F. Barnes, who was a cotton merchant, banker, rancher and owner of the W.F. and J.F. Barnes lumber companies that operated throughout central Texas.

Alice's father, Dr. Vaughan, was a physician that specialized in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He and Myrtle settled in Port Arthur in the early 1900's when Port Arthur was a popular tourist destination due to it's clear blue water & sandy white bottom lake - Lake Sabine. Dr. Vaughan started a successful practice there and later built a new grand hotel on Proctor Street, the Sabine Hotel, which became a landmark of Port Arthur. The Great Depression of 1929 began shortly after the completion of the hotel, and things looked bleak. The Vaughan family was forced to temporarily leave their home in Dryden Place and move into the hotel. The memories of hotel life and the great depression influenced Alice's happy outlook on life.

Alice developed a love for travel at an early age thanks to her beloved grandmother, Alice Barnes who was her namesake. She recalled a trip that she and her grandmother took alone to South America where they traveled throughout Brazil and Peru. This was very unusual and quite adventurous for women at that time. They took many more exciting trips together and were very close.

Alice was a lifelong resident of Port Arthur, graduating from Port Arthur High School where she was a member of the Red Hussar Drum and Bugle Corps. She was a well known beauty and it was there in the hallways of Port Arthur High where she caught the eye of her future husband, Frank Ralph Keith. It was love at first sight!

After graduation she moved to Austin and attended the University of Texas where she joined the sorority Pi Beta Phi. She graduated in 1935 with a B.A. degree in English.

She and Frank had a long courtship, and in 1942 she and her parents traveled by train to New York, New York where she and Frank were married. He was serving as a ship’s doctor in the Navel Medical Corp. during WWII. Frank was granted a short leave in order for them to marry, but only a few days later he had to return to the Atlantic Theater.

After the war, the young Keith’s moved back to Port Arthur where he worked in General Practice. It was during that time that Alice began her first job as Frank's office nurse, bookkeeper and office manager. They later moved to New Orleans, LA from 1948-1950 where they both attended Tulane University.  Alice pursued her Masters Degree in English while Dr. Keith specialized in diseases and surgery of the eye. They then returned back to Port Arthur and never moved away again. Dr. Keith opened a successful ophthalmology practice and Alice settled into the role of being a wife and mother. They had 3 children, Bob, Betty & John.

Frank and Alice traveled the world, and there are very few countries that Alice had not visited during her long life! She had an intense love for her family and was smart, generous, extremely witty and kind. She was a member of the Service League of Port Arthur, and was a member of St. George Episcopal Church in Port Arthur.

Alice was an avid reader of books & periodicals - ranging from the Enquirer to the Wall Street Journal. She loved keeping up with current events and there was never a newspaper or magazine that she could pass by! You could never pass a newspaper stand without having to stop to allow her to purchase a stack of them...and she actually read them all! She loved to have fun, and would attend any kind of event just to keep from having to stay home. She enjoyed live theater and attending the Beaumont symphony. She loved to shop and always looked forward to her annual Round Top shopping adventures with her daughter Betty. She was also frequently spotted in her wheelchair shopping in the Baptist Hospital gift shop! She was an avid bridge player...and a great one! She loved games of every kind and loved exercising her brain with crossword puzzles, word jumbles, dominoes, Mah Jongg and all types of board games. She was the original gamer!

Alice was a force of nature! She had boundless energy, a vivacious personality and had such a love of life! She was intensely curious and was always interested in learning new things. She was an artist and a health enthusiast. She was a health nut before being a health nut was cool! She had every intention of living to 125, and she came closer than most! She was very elegant and yet so personable and sweet. She was always dressed to the nines, with makeup, jewelry, a neck scarf and perfect hair. She guarded that hair with hyper-vigilance! She was a true lady in every sense of the word and she will be sorely missed.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Frank Ralph Keith and son John Franklin Keith. She is survived by her children Robert (Bob) Vaughan Keith and daughter-in-law Vickie Lynne Keith of Georgetown, TX, Kathryn Elizabeth (Betty) Keith of Richardson, TX and her longtime companion Bob Stout of Dallas, TX, and daughter-in-law Karen Ann Keith (wife of John) of Waco, TX, 5 grandchildren Jason Keith and wife Sara, Kimberly Freeman and husband Leslie , Stephanie Keith, Katie Keith and Brian Keith, and 5 great-grandchildren Zachary, Keith and Ben Freeman,  Silja and Alice Keith.

The family would also like to extend their love and gratitude to her best friends and caretakers who stood by her until the end and were like family to us all...Mrs. Donna Arena of Beaumont and Mr. Jim Fails of Warren, TX.

In lieu of flowers the family encourages gifts to the American Cancer Society or your favorite healthy eating foundation.