Mary Katheryn Kelly
Mary Katheryn Kelly, age 92, the daughter of Valdemar Wilhelm and Carolyn Charlotte (Walker) Nelson, was born August 19, 1928, at Trimble, Missouri. She died at the Wayne County Hospital in Corydon, Iowa on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.
Kay, as she was known, grew up in Macon, Missouri and graduated from Macon High School in 1946. She earned a business degree from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. She moved to Kansas City, Missouri and started working for Sears. She became the training supervisor then later worked in the business office of TG&Y.
In 1949, she married Ural Cordell “Chick” Wright and lived in Independence, Missouri. They were blessed with daughter Valerie and then son, Thomas Eric “Rick”. She later married Raymond D. Kelly in May of 1963, and was blessed with son, Cliff, while living in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kay loved to bowl and to dance and travel the world with Raymond and family. She visited more than 15 countries and every state in the United States. She loved time with her grandchildren and always told them she loved them to pieces. She was a member of the Northwood Baptist Church and the Harmony Baptist Church.
Preceding her in death were her parents; husband, Raymond Kelly; siblings, Jean Bidlake, Joyce Olson, Joan Hall, and Valdemar Walker “Junior” Nelson; stepchildren, Mike and Patty Norris; and brothers-in-law, Bob Smith and Monroe Kelly and wife, Luella. Survivors include her children, Val Brush and husband, Jack of Odessa, Missouri, Rick Wright of Corydon, Iowa, and Cliff Kelly and wife, Diane of Urbandale, Iowa; 13 grandchildren, Rachel, Kelly, Jacob, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Sean, Kristen, Joe, Marty, Wes, Jennifer, Lea, and Brad; numerous great grandchildren; brother, Jack Nelson and wife, Toni of Macon, Missouri; sister-in-law, Gwen Smith of Macon, Missouri; many nieces and nephews; and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be held at the Slade – O’Donnell Funeral Home in Leon, Iowa at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Burial will follow in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Kearney, Missouri at 3 p.m.
