George Pleasant Keeling was born September 11, 1866, in Rolla, Missouri. When a young man, he was converted and felt a call to the ministry. At some point he became affiliated with the Evening Light Reformation and Gospel Trumpet movement. There is only one song, as far as I know, that he had a part in writing. He authored the words of song #19 in Songs of the Evening Light, 1897, titled “The Love of God.” Barney Warren set the words to music.
G. P. Keeling was united in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Sparks of Sarcoxie, Missouri, on December 24, 1889. To this union two sons and one daughter were born: Orval, Leroy, and Ruth. Mary Keeling preceded her husband in death at age 61 on April 26, 1932, at Colfax, Washington. George later married Alma Lauder of Moscow, Idaho. He departed this life in Moscow, Idaho, on September 1, 1948, at the age of 81.
G. P. Keeling’s name appears in The Gospel Trumpet publications in the 1890s and beyond, and is also listed in the Faith and Victory paper, June 1955, as one among the earliest Church of God ministers to preach in Oklahoma. www.churchofgodeveninglight.com/library (See Faith and Victory, June 1955, page 18, “First Camp Meeting in Oklahoma,” by L. D. Pruitt.)
