Mary D’Alva (White) Keltner

Mary D’Alva (White) Keltner, a vibrant and dynamic wife and mother of three, passed away on June 11, 2025, after a months-long battle with a sudden-onset paralysis. She was the daughter of Scottsdale’s first Mayor, Malcolm White, and his wife, Marie Trumbly.
Mary was a proud member of the Osage Nation on her mother’s side, and a descendant of John Francis Trumbly, an early tribal council member who passed away in 1917. Her connection to her heritage was a source of great pride, and she joined an Osage Nation delegation to France in 1990. This trip strengthened the historical ties between the Osage and French peoples, and she later hosted a return delegation from Montauban.
A loyal 1961 graduate of Scottsdale High, Mary helped organize class reunions and was blessed with hundreds of friends from every stage of her active life. These friendships spanned from high school, Arizona State University, her Kappa Delta sorority, her post-ASU years in advertising, several bridge groups, multiple public service groups, the on-going media/advertising Survivor’s group, and several informal long-time friendship, travel, and charitable support groups. She loved being and working with others, excelling at planning and organizing monthly meetings and annual fund-raising events. Mary brought energy and fun-loving enthusiasm to her associations and received many recognition awards.
Mary was dedicated to service groups as a nonprofit volunteer for the Maricopa County Election Board. She served as a past board member for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Auxiliary, Scottsdale Historical Society, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Paradise Valley Women’s Association, Friends of Family Service, Phoenix Theatre Company Guild, and was president of the Maricopa County Bar Association Auxiliary. Mary joined the Assistance League of Phoenix in July 2013 and remained active until her death. To Mary, a stranger was merely a friend she hadn’t met. Her countless lifelong friends came from diverse cultural, religious, and social backgrounds and origins. She valued all for who they were.
Mary was at home in any environment. She enjoyed tent camping on mountain trout streams in both summer warmth and winter snow, even while nursing her oldest son two weeks after he was born during a campout with friends. She was equally comfortable at formal social events. Mostly with her husband, Gary, to whom she was married for almost 58 years, and their sons, she traveled widely throughout the U.S., southern Canada, and into Mexico. This included trips by car to both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, Washington, D.C., and states between. She enjoyed nature, driving and hiking in scenic places like the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.
Together and with friends, Mary and Gary visited West Berlin, East Berlin, and Potsdam before the Berlin Wall fell, as well as Zurich and Lucerne in Switzerland, Vienna and the Danube River in Austria, Rio de Janeiro, and parts of Mexico. With friends and relatives, she traveled to Lake Tahoe, Cape Cod, Hawaii, Mexico, China, Israel, Morocco, Ireland, Salzburg (for Oberammergau), and the Disneyland castle look-alike Neuschwanstein.
Mary is survived by her husband, Gary, and their sons Paul (Jessica), Mark, and Dean (Arrin). She also leaves behind her grandson, Grayson (son of Paul and Jessica), step-granddaughter, Zoe (daughter of Arrin and Dean) and the family’s beloved long-coated Chihuahua, Shadow.
In lieu of flowers, Mary requested that donations be made to Delivering Dreams of Arizona (the newly established successor to the Assistance League of Phoenix) or to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
A memorial and celebration of Mary’s life is being planned. More information will be provided to family and friends once the details have been finalized.