Bethany House lost a quiet but powerful champion when Sue Keck passed away on January 10, 2026, at the age of 76. A registered nurse by profession and a servant by nature, Sue had a gift for seeing a need and refusing to look away from it. For Bethany House, that gift made all the difference.
Sue’s connection to Bethany House began in 2011, when she was serving as President of the Heavenly Dining Diva’s Ladies Circle at Heritage Church of God in Maumee. When her group was asked to support a local outreach, it was Sue who championed Bethany House. The cause took root in her heart immediately, and it never let go.
Even after the Dining Diva’s group concluded during the COVID pandemic, Sue carried her commitment forward into her Monday Morning Bible Study, continuing to encourage others to show up for the families at Bethany House. She understood something important: that consistent, personal generosity matters more than grand gestures.
Sue made that belief visible throughout the year. Each October, she organized a donation drive in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Her dedication inspired the Gatekeeper Ladies Bible Study to expand its outreach as well, bringing support to Bethany House families at Easter, Mother’s Day, the start of the school year, and Christmas. At Easter, children received Easter baskets. For Mother’s Day, moms received small gift bags with a flower and other thoughtful items, a quiet message that they were seen and supported. In September, school supplies went home with families. At Christmas, group members adopted a mom or child and worked to fulfill their wish lists.
That rhythm of giving across the seasons was entirely Sue’s vision. Her hope was simple: that the families at Bethany House would feel loved not just once, but many times throughout the year.
Sue spent more than 35 years in nursing, much of it focused on discharge planning and coordinating care for patients at Flower and Toledo Hospitals. It’s not hard to see the same instinct at work in her volunteer life: a trained eye for what people need to move forward, and a willingness to help provide it.
She is survived by her husband Larry, their son Matthew, grandsons Alexander and Nicholas, and a wide circle of family and friends whose lives she shaped through her example.
The women of the Gatekeeper Ladies Bible Study have made one thing clear: Sue’s work will continue. The donation drives, the Easter baskets, the Mother’s Day bags, the school supplies, the Christmas wish lists. All of it, in her memory, for the families she loved so well.
We are grateful for everything Sue gave to the women and children of Bethany House. Her compassion lives on in every life she touched and in the community of givers she inspired.
