Keith Lancaster Earnhardt

Keith Lancaster Earnhardt, 79, died peacefully at the Flesher’s Fairview Health Care Center on June 11, 2020.

She was born on December 22, 1940, in High Point, NC, to the late Susie Williams Lancaster and George Whitfield Lancaster. She was also preceded in death by her sister, Gayle McVean (deceased husband Dino McVean).

She was a graduate of Sumner High School in Greensboro, NC, and the Presbyterian School of Nursing in Charlotte, NC. She was an exceptional nurse at NC Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill and University Hospital in Cleveland, OH. After spending two years at Camp Zama, Japan, where her husband served as a pediatrician for military dependents, the family moved to Winston-Salem, NC, in 1969, where they lived until their retirement in 2006. The family then moved to Gerton, NC, a small community in the North Carolina mountains near Asheville.

She was a wonderful wife and mother of three sons, an avid gardener and birdwatcher, and worked as a part-time realtor and broker with Hubbard Realty of Winston-Salem. She was also an exceptionally knowledgeable and long-time collector of early Americana memorabilia.

She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Dr. James F. Earnhardt; three sons: James F. Earnhardt, Jr., of Gerton, Carlton Bradley Earnhardt, of Asheville, and Michael Keith Earnhardt (wife Angela Curry Earnhardt), of Glendale, CA; a brother, Dr. James Mansfield Lancaster (wife Camille Galarde Lancaster), of Greensboro; four loving grandchildren: Warwick Maximilian “Max” Earnhardt and Scarlett Street Earnhardt of Durham, NC, and Ada Ruth Earnhardt and Silas Curry Earnhardt of Glendale.

Keith was loved by family and friends and will be sorely missed. Burial will be a family graveside service at the Bearwallow Cemetery in Gerton. The Rev. Bobby Dees will officiate.

Memorial gifts in honor of Keith may be given to MemoryCare of Asheville, 100 Far Horizons Lane, Asheville, NC 28803; phone (828) 771-2219, Flesher’s Fairview Health Care Center, 3016 Cane Creek Rd., Fairview, NC 28730; phone (828) 628-2800, the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center, P.O. 222, Gerton, NC 28735, or to an organization/charity of one’s choosing.

Groce Funeral Home on Patton Ave. is assisting the family.