Margaret “Lois” Kelley, 96, of Morgantown, passed away on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, at her home. She was born on Aug. 10, 1923, in Springhill Township, Pa., the only daughter of the late Ira Evans and Rosella Lee (Corder) Keiser.
She graduated from Bethany College, in Bethany, W.Va., with a degree in education, and briefly taught science, in Mt. Lebanon, Pa. After her marriage in 1945, she became a full-time homemaker, raising four children and supporting her busy physician husband, Arthur Wilson Kelley, MD, who preceded her in death. A staunch Christian, she was a charter member of Calvary Baptist Church in Morgantown, serving as its treasurer for many years. She loved attending Sunday morning services and sang enthusiastically even though she said she couldn’t “carry a tune in a bucket.”
Lois was a passionate flower gardener who took great pride in her green lawn (which she mowed herself) and her colorful flower borders that always had a few tomato plants thrown in for good measure. Even after she was unable to work in her yard she maintained a garden of houseplants in her dining room bay window and scoured plant catalogs every winter to find new plants to try in her flower borders. Both family and friends will always remember the scrumptious meals she could bring to the table.
Lois is survived by her four children: Arthur Evans Kelley and wife Vickie, of Winston Salem, N.C., Rodney George Kelley and wife Bonnie, of Salem, W.Va., Jeffrey Lee Kelley, of Houston, Texas, and Cynthia Frances Martin and husband Alan, of Morgantown. She is survived by eight grandchildren and two stepgrandchildren as well as five great-grandchildren and four stepgreat-grandchildren.
The family wishes to express special appreciation to Derek Bonner, Ron Gillis, Lil Klein and Carolyn Simpkins for their kind support of our mother, particularly in her later years.
Family and friends will be received at Calvary Baptist Church, 519 Burroughs St., Morgantown from 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, until the time of the funeral service at 11 a.m., with Pastor Doug Strother officiating. Interment will follow at Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Calvary Baptist Church Building Fund, 519 Burroughs St., Morgantown.
Condolences:
www.hastingsfuneralhome.com
