Yocelinda Keen departed this life on Jan. 26, 2018 surrounded by her family and was greeted at the gates of heaven by her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; her husband Ralph Ellis Keen; her mother, Ventura Diaz; her sister, Francesca; and her brothers, Bolivar, Roberto and Adalberto.
Yocelinda was born in Canazas, Panama. She was the oldest of 11 children. She selflessly cared for her mother and siblings. She was a teacher in Rio Hato and Panama City, Panama before meeting and marrying her husband Ralph when he was stationed in Panama with the U.S. Air Force. They were stationed in El Centro, Calif.; Evreux, France and moved to Dover AFB in 1961. She was a homemaker and returned to work at Kraft General Foods for 15 years, retiring in 1984 to care for her husband. She returned to work as a part time teachers assistant at Telamon on White Oak Road in Dover and was affectionately known as Ms. Yoce. She loved children and came full circle starting her career working with children and ended it working with children when she retired.
Yocelinda loved to travel and traveled all over the United States. Her favorite places were Hawaii, Orlando, Las Vegas and New Orleans. She traveled internationally with her daughters, Shirley and Jenny all over the Caribbean, Central and South America, Spain, Morocco, the Canary Islands, Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Cyprus and Crete. She was 87 years old when she traveled with her daughters to the Middle East, to Bahrain and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The locals were surprised to see an elderly woman from the West and would often stop her to say hello and kiss her hand, which she loved. Her last trip abroad was in 2017 to visit her family in Panama accompanied by her daughters and grandchildren.
Yocelinda was a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church and attended the Hispanic mass for many years. She was blessed to attend three general audiences at the Vatican with Pope John XXIII in 1959; Pope Benedict's last general audience in Feb. 2013 and Pope Francis in March 2015.
Yocelinda's memory will be cherished by her loving daughters, Shirley Keen-McNeil and Alfred McNeil of Dover, who lovingly cared for her, Jenny Keen-Cuesta and Manuel Cuesta of Dover; her grandchildren, Manolito and Sara Cuesta of Alexandria, Va., Anthony Cuesta of Rehoboth Beach, Erica McNeil of Dover and Brandon McNeil of Dover; her sisters, Doris, Yara, Elia, Marina and Juanita; her brother, Victor; numerous nieces and nephews and many friends within the Holy Cross Hispanic community.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held, 12 p.m., Friday, Feb. 2, 2018 at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 631 S. State Street, Dover, Friends may call from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday evening at Torbert Funeral Chapel south, 1145 E. Lebanon Road (Rt.10), Dover.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Holy Cross Church, 631 S. State St. Dover, DE 19901
Letters of condolences may be sent and guestbook signed at www.torbertfuneral.com