JONESVILLE, La. – George &uot;Bubba&uot; Keeth Jr. was a fun and faithful friend who liked to contribute to local causes behind the scenes, friends said Friday.

The 55-year-old Keeth, who managed Keeth’s Marine in Jonesville and Natchez for a number of years, died Tuesday night when the small airplane he was piloting crashed into the waters near Belle Chasse.

His body was recovered Thursday morning in the Intracoastal Waterway by a passing boater.

Keeth’s funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Evangeline Baptist Church in Wildsville, where he was a member. Burial will be in the church cemetery under the direction of Young’s Funeral Home of Jonesville. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.

&uot;He was always helping people and never wanted any credit for it,&uot; said Bill Bullock, a lifelong friend who visited Keeth often at Keeth’s Marine in Jonesville.

&uot;I never saw anyone come in and ask for donation when he didn’t give it to them, and he was always donating boats and motors to raise money for causes in this area,&uot; he said.

But Bullock himself also benefited from Keeth’s generosity, when Bullock’s grandson was injured and had to be flown to a Shreveport hospital for treatment.

&uot;I&160;couldn’t fly with him,&uot;&160;Bullock said. &uot;He (Keeth) left a meeting he was in and flew me to Shreveport in 43 minutes. He wouldn’t let me pay for gas or anything.&uot;

The Keeth family has perhaps been best known in the Miss-Lou for their marine stores and for the grocery store and shopping center they established in Jonesville decades ago.

Survivors include four daughters, Caroline Keeth of Jonesville, Tanya Keeth of West Monroe, Renee Pender and Cheryl White of Monroe; one son, George Drew Keeth III of Alexandria; and one sister and her husband, Loretta and Joe Taylor of Jonesville.