Margaret McKeithan

It is with both profound sadness and a celebration of a life so wonderfully lived that the family announced the peaceful passing of Mother Margaret Melvin McKeithan on June 2, 2025, surrounded by her family in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

She was born on September 8, 1922, to the late Brother Dexter and Sister Emmaline Melvin in Elizabethtown, North Carolina.  She is the longest living in her entire immediate family.

She was united in Holy Matrimony by Bro. Jessie J. McKeithan and to this union eight children were born. Bro. McKeithan preceded her in death in 1972.

Mother McKeithan was the oldest member of New Antioch Baptist Church. She lived to be 102 years old, and she has been a member of the church for the past 40+ years.  She served in the Missionary Ministry and was one of the mothers of the church. She was closely associated with Mother Dorothy Martin and Mother Ora Knighton.

She relocated from Portsmouth, Virginia to Hartford, Connecticut to be with her family. She was a dutiful housewife taking very good care of her children.  She enjoyed celebrating her birthdays and requested a yearly birthday celebration which her children obliged her with.

She was predeceased by three sisters and one brother; two daughters, Annette Pennington and Gertie Hightower; three sons: Bernard, James, and Jerry McKeithan; two grandchildren, Anita Hamsley and Michael Hines.

She leaves to cherish her memory three daughters: Lunette Watson and her husband Alphonso, Margaret Garrett and Barbara Jean McCoy and her husband Willie. A host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

We bid farewell to Mother McKeithan while holding tight to the love, service, and joy she imparted to all of us. As we honor her remarkable life journey, we find solace in knowing her influence will continue to shine in the many lives she touched.