California Obituaries, Los Angeles County

Submitted by Peggy Hooper 

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The Downey Eagle
January 5, 2001 Volume 8 Number 46

Services tomorrow for Monnie Sewall Keays
DOWNEY-A memorial service will be held tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 6) at 3 p.m. at the First Christian 
Church, Fourth and New streets, for Monnie Sewall Keays, a longtime Downey resident and an 
authority on local history and the First Christian Church here. 
She was 91, born Feb. 3, 1909 in Portland, Ore., and died Dec. 28 in Downey. She first moved to 
Downey in 1923, with her family after her father, Edward W. Sewall accepted the ministry post at 
the First Christian Church here. 
She graduated from Downey High School in 1927 and attended Whittier College before working as 
a secretary and clerk in the Downey Justice Court where she met her husband, Leslie Rolland Keays. 
They were married in 1949 and moved to Pasadena. 
She returned to Downey in 1965 with Leslie and their daughter, Kathleen, and was active in many 
organizations including the Women's Club, the Downey Historical Society, the Republican Women's 
Club, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. 
She was best known for her interesting and informative talks on city history and the history of the 
First Christian Church, and was instrumental in the publication of a church history, and the celebration 
of the church's 100th and 125th birthdays. 
She loved to travel and research family history. 
She was preceded in death by her brother, Arvey, and her beloved husband, Leslie, both of whom 
died in 1997. 
Survivors include her daughter, Kathleen Broder and grandchildren Stephen and Bethany Broder. 
Dr. Joseph C. Grana will officiate. Burial will follow at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. 
Arrangements are by Rose Hills Mortuary