Uncrowned Community Builders

Keba M. Lyons was born November 30, 1975 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Like many generations of her female ancestors, Keba's life is one of service to family and community. One might ask how a life so simple and routine can be noteworthy? We must remember that quiet and loving service is the fabric from which Black history is woven.

In 1994, after graduating from high school in Chandler, Oklahoma, Keba completed a two-year certification course in Graphic Arts Technology at Gordon Cooper Vo-Tech in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

As a young woman, Keba was delighted to assist her community by working for the East Central Workforce Development Agency. She served as a youth worker for the City of Chandler. In this position, she cleaned streets, painted bridges, mowed lawns and completed other tasks. Keba helped restore and rebuild a portion of Chandler's historic brick streets, worked at a variety of tasks for the Chandler Public Library and helped with the Global Oklahoma Festival of Cultures at Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

Keba wished to pursue her dream of becoming a personal health trainer. However, because of family needs, it was once again time for her to serve others. Having an ageing great-grandfather, grandmother, and a mother who commuted 100 miles a day to work, Keba was needed to shoulder a greater part of the family workload. In the process of doing this, she not only assisted her own family but helped other ageing citizens in the community as well.

While Keba worked at her many volunteer jobs, she also received certificates in computer skills, Internet training, Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation and for agricultural subjects at Langston University. Keba continues to volunteer at the library, the Pioneer Museum and amateur theater productions.

Keba's elder loved ones have passed. Keba appreciates the strong, loving foundation passed on to her and wishes to encourage other young people to be more involved with family and community. To continue her plans to become a personal health and fitness trainer, Keba has taken the first step by completing a course in Fitness and Nutrition.