Keegan Lee Caves, 19, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Sunday, August 11, 2019, at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
Funeral services will be held 5 PM, Thursday, August 15, 2019, at New Bethel Holiness Baptist Church in Ben Hill County, with the Rev. Chris Merritt and the Rev. Jeremy Cox officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5-8 Tuesday evening at the funeral home in Fitzgerald. Keegan will be taken home to 640 Broxton Highway at Noon on Wednesday and lie in state at his residence until Noon on Thursday.
Keegan was born November 9, 1999, in Coffee County, Georgia, to Jessica Smith Jackson and Greg Lee Caves. He was a 2018 graduate of Fitzgerald High School where he was active in the FFA and enjoyed working in shop class. He was dual-enrolled at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College and received his Certified Nursing Assistant training while in high school. He enjoyed participating in CIS activities. He was a debarker operator for Southern Veneer Products. Keegan was an avid outdoorsman and loved fishing, even sneaking out of the house on Saturday morning to go wet a hook. He loved making people smile and loved his family dearly. He was an old soul and enjoyed cooking and eating spicy food and making pepper sauce. Keegan overcame many health obstacles and always did so with a positive attitude. The impact he left on this world will continue to be felt by friends and family for many years. He was baptized at DeBerry Baptist Church.
He is survived by his mother and step-father, Jessica & Chris Jackson of Fitzgerald; his father, Greg Caves of West Green; siblings: Kirk & Katelyn Easom, Kaci Caves, Kyle Jackson, and Marcus Jackson, all of Fitzgerald and Danielle Caves of West Green; nieces and a nephew: Raelynn Easom, Rhett Easom, and Allison Klaire Caves; aunts and uncles: Melissa Ann & Don Ward of Tifton, Hershell & Sonya Smith of Fitzgerald, Ashley Smith of Fitzgerald, and Brandy Delaney & Tracy Yeomans of Tifton; grandparents: Jessie Mae Smith of Fitzgerald, Johnny & Shirley Caves of West Green, Regina & David Robinson and Scott Jackson, all of Tifton; and great-grandparents: Cedar & Dessie Mae Bennett of Tifton. Many cousins, extended family, and friends also survive. He was preceded in death by grandparents: Charles Arvin Smith, Vickie Lynn Smith, and Julian Smith; and great-grandparents, Berchard & Shirley Jackson.