T. Keister Greer

Thomas Keister Greer, 86, of Rocky Mount, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of the night Friday, May 23rd, with his wife Ibby of 18 years beside him, at a hotel in Sevierville, TN, coming home from a wonderful car trip to Chicago to visit his stepson.

Keister was born September 28, 1921 to Goldie Lillian Shaw Greer and Moses Theodrick Greer in Premier, WV. He was predeceased by his only brother, James, in 1987 and in 1989 by both his beloved wife of 46 years, Dorothy Leech Greer and his youngest daughter, Celeste Claiborne Greer. He is survived by his wife Elizabeth (“Ibby”) Taylor Greer of the home, his daughter Taliaferro Greer Alexander of Rocky Mount, his son the Honorable G. Carter Greer of Martinsville, his step-son Andrew Taylor Call, Esq., of Chicago, dear friend Matthew Baldwin Call, sisters Virginia Greer Williams (Robert) of Rocky Mount and Patricia Greer Hiller (Ronald) of Michigan, grandchildren William Nelson Alexander III, Katherine Celeste Greer, Julia Elaine Greer, and several nieces and nephews.

Keister graduated from Andrew Lewis High School in Salem in 1939, and soon thereafter his studies at the University of Virginia were interrupted by WWII. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain, and ended the war in the Okinawa campaign as executive officer of the First Battalion, First Marines and company commander of Charlie Company. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a Lt. Colonel. He regarded his service to his country as his most important accomplishment.

In 1943, Keister married his first wife, Dorothy, whom he had met while he was stationed in San Diego. Following the war, he returned to UVa to complete his undergraduate degree. He became a member of the Raven Society, Phi Delta Phi and Order of the Coif and received his law degree in 1948. He used to quip that, since he was never good at Physical Education, which was required at that time in order to graduate from UVa, he persuaded the University to let him count his WWII action as “P.E.” The University did so, allowing him to graduate.

As a lawyer and member of both the California and Virginia Bars for his entire career, Keister handled riparian rights/flood cases in California’s Central Valley, while maintaining a practice back in Rocky Mount that covered everything from embezzlement to murder cases. He won one case before the United States Supreme Court, California v. Buzzard, which saved military personnel from having to pay property tax in more than one state.

Keister’s varied and extensive civic activities included his 25 years on the Board of First Virginia Banks, Inc., his decades serving as Chairman of the First Virginia Bank-Franklin County, and his eight years (1995-2003) on the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia, his favorite place on earth. Appointed by Gov. George Allen and reappointed by Gov. Jim Gilmore, Keister was an active participant, who was involved in many University activities.

After his retirement in 1999, Keister wrote his massive legal history about the county he dearly loved, “The Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935,” and he published his UVa History Honors Thesis in book form, “Genesis of a Virginia Frontier, The Origins of Franklin County, Virginia, 1740-1785.” For the past two years he had been working on his military and legal memoirs, “Reflections of a Bi-Coastal Lawyer.” He dictated on this project up to four hours a day, and he was happy.

An Anglophile whose favorite book was the Anglican Prayer Book of 1928 based on Archbishop Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer, he quoted Shakespeare and most other British authors by heart, all the time and for all occasions. He had a phenomenal memory. Keister was most at home in London when not at his much-loved Greek Revival home, The Grove, in Rocky Mount. An opera lover, his favorite music was anything by Wagner, and he and his late wife Dorothy frequently traveled to Europe to its opera houses, and even Egypt, for magnificent productions of Wagner and “Aida.” He also enjoyed the productions of Opera Roanoke, and had served on their board.

Keister married Ibby in 1990 and they had almost eighteen happy years together. Keister leaves behind a loving family and friends. He was a great and dear man and will be greatly missed.

Visitation will be Friday, May 30th, from 4:00 to 7:00 at Flora Funeral Home at 665 S. Main Street in Rocky Mount. The funeral will be performed Saturday, May 31st, by the Rev. Canon Marvin Gardner, Ph.D., at 11:00 at St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican-Catholic Church at 4910 Hubert Road NW (540-366-9416), off Hershberger Road in north Roanoke. The funeral procession will commence at Flora Funeral Home back in Rocky Mount at 3:00, with the burial at the Greer Cemetery near Sontag in Franklin County.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Celeste Park [land recently given to the Town of Rocky Mount by Keister in memory of his late daughter], c/o Town of Rocky Mount, 345 Donald Avenue, Rocky Mount, VA 24151, or to a fund created in the early 1990s, the T. Keister Greer ’43 Faculty Development Fund, History Dept., University of Virginia, c/o Duane J. Osheim, Chair of History Dept., P.O. Box 400180, Charlottesville, VA 22904.