Carol J. Keyes was born to Helen (Rock) and Leonard Keyes on June 16, 1936.  She was the oldest of eight children and attended St. Bernard and Edgewood Catholic Schools in Madison, WI.  Then she followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a nurse and attended St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Milwaukee.  In 1960 she moved to Boston, MA where she worked as an RN for 36 years.  While there she went to Boston College to earn her Bachelors in Nursing.  Colleagues nominated her to be in the book Who’s Who of American Women.  After retiring she worked at the jewelry counter at Nieman Marcus sharing her love of jewelry with her customers.  In the fall of 2007 she returned to Wisconsin due to deteriorating health.  She lived at St. Camillus in Wauwatosa, WI until her death on June 17, 2016.

Carol traveled the world with her good friends Dr. Jim and Gerry Walker, both now deceased.  Her favorite trip ever was an African safari.  Her family and friends loved hearing her stories of her travels.

Carol was a true lady in every sense of the word.  She had a childlike curiosity for everything going on around her and she took a genuine interest in everyone she met.  Her family and friends were always excited to receive her thick envelopes of handwritten letters and newspapers clippings carefully chosen for the recipient. 

When people visited her in Boston, she was the best of hostesses showing all of Boston’s landmarks with the joyous hospitality she learned from her mother and shares with her sisters.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Helen and Leonard Keyes, two brothers, Thomas and John Keyes and brother-in-law William Seelow.  She is survived by sisters Alice Seelow,  Helen (Norm) Yerke, Michelle (David) Christenson, Patricia (Richard) Knudtson and Elizabeth Keyes, sister-in-law Karen Keyes, numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces,  great nephews and several good friends in Boston.

There will be a private service for the family and she will be buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Madison, WI.  Memorials can be made in Carol’s name to St. Camillus, 10101 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Wauwatosa, WI 53226 because they took such good care of her for the last 8 ½ years.