Celestine A. Mekeel

Celestine Arlene Krantz Mekeel, a devoted wife, mother and friend, died on Christmas Eve at the Essa Flory Hospice Center after a valiant battle with cancer that lasted more than two years.

Mrs. Mekeel, a resident of Woodcrest Villa, was 89. Married for 59 years to Thomas C. Mekeel, whom she met on a blind date, Mrs. Mekeel was known to many of her friends as "Salty," a nickname that she got from classmates in grade school one day during recess.

She was an unwavering source of support and encouragement for her family. Far more concerned about their well-being than her own, she put their needs first without hesitation. “My family was my life, and it still is,” she said this fall. Mrs. Mekeel was deeply committed as well to her church, Mt. Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, where she was proud to be a 50-year member.

Among her many interests was traveling, highlighted by her four trips to Europe with her husband. On one of those trips, Mrs. Mekeel fulfilled her life-long dream of visiting her late grandfather’s home and church in the village of Allmenrod, Germany.

She also enjoyed gardening, reading, swimming and listening to classical music, especially sacred music.

In her youth, she often played tennis and went skiing, frequently walking several miles to get to small, snowy hills outside of town.
But Mrs. Mekeel’s greatest joy came from the activities and achievements of her children and grandchildren.
She enthusiastically attended any event involving them, no matter how minor their participation.
These included hundreds of swim meets — where her children, even while racing, recognized the clear sound of her cheering and clapping — as well as numerous ballgames and concerts.

If Mrs. Mekeel couldn’t be on hand for a particular event involving her children or grandchildren, she loved to hear about it. An attentive listener who cared deeply about their welfare, she fondly remembered every detail she was told.

Born in York on Feb. 28, 1918, Mrs. Mekeel was the middle child of three daughters born to the late Charles Henry Krantz and Anna Marie Little Krantz.

Mrs. Krantz instilled a love of music in her girls. She played recordings for the family on a Victrola (the children were not allowed to touch it), started all three daughters on piano lessons while in grade school and bought a piano on the installment plan so they could practice regularly.

School was St. John’s Lutheran School, operated by the Missouri Synod church where Mrs. Mekeel and her family worshipped. She began first grade at age 4 because she was anxious to stay with her older sister, Regina.

After attending the church school, Mrs. Mekeel completed high school at William Penn Senior High School in York, graduating at age 16, the youngest member of her 309-student class. She then graduated from Thompson Business College in York.

Mrs. Mekeel spent the next 11 years working for Edmund H. Senft CPA in York as a stenographer and bookkeeper, then one year as traffic manager for WSBA-AM in York, where her duties included visiting the local farmers’ markets, jotting down vegetable prices and reading them on the air at noon.

During those years, Mrs. Mekeel was active in her home church, now named First St. John’s. She played piano for its Sunday School for 13 years and sang in the church choir. She, her husband and their family moved to Lancaster in 1957.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Mekeel is survived by four children: Susan M. Volker, wife of James L. Volker; Peter C. Mekeel, husband of Audrey M. Mekeel; Daniel H. Mekeel, husband of Ann B. Mekeel; and Timothy T. Mekeel, husband of Alison R. Mekeel; all of Lancaster.

Mrs. Mekeel also is survived by four grandchildren: Emily M. Cauler, wife of Chad M. Cauler, Lancaster; David C. Mekeel, Philadelphia; Paige E. Mekeel, Lancaster; and Colin T. Mekeel, Lancaster; and one great-grandson, Benjamin M. Cauler, Lancaster.
Mrs. Mekeel was preceded in death by two sisters, Regina K. Moede of Sterling, Va., and Dolores K. Kauffman of York.

Funeral Services will be held at Mount Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, 308 Petersburg Road, Neffsville Pa, on Saturday at 10:00AM. Interment will be in Green Mount Cemetery, York, Pa. There will be a viewing at the church on Saturday from 9:00-10:00AM

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to: The Foundation Fighting Blindness Inc., P.O. Box 17279, Baltimore, MD 21203-7279; The Gray Center, a non-profit autism education organization, 4123 Embassy Dr. SE, Kentwood, MI 49546; and Hospice of Lancaster County, 685 Good Drive, PO Box 4125, Lancaster, PA 17604-4125.