Barbara Mae Kelly

Barbara Mae Kelly, 94, of Quincy, formerly of Hamilton, passed away on Friday, August 18, 2023, at Sunset Home in Quincy.

Barbara was born in Keokuk, IA on October 29, 1928, the daughter of Fred and Edith (Alley) Hartweg.  She graduated from Hamilton High School in 1946. She then attended Carthage College as well as Air Traffic Control school in Omaha, NE. On March 4, 1951, she was united in marriage to Stuart Kelly at the Ferris Christian Church. They shared over 67 years of marriage before his death on September 24, 2018. Barbara spent most of her life as a farm wife and mother. She worked hard on the farm, alongside her husband, raising dairy cattle, chickens, and sheep.  It was not unusual to find a newborn lamb wrapped in a towel warming on the open oven door. She put out large gardens and rarely let anything go to waste, canning and freezing everything that she could.

She was a skilled seamstress and would make most of her and her family’s clothes, including her own wedding dress as well as her daughters’ wedding dresses.  In her later years, she worked for the Hancock County Health Department where she made many friends. Barbara was very active in the Ferris Christian Church singing in the choir, helping with VBS, quilting with the ladies, helping with funeral dinners, and starting a nursery class shortly after her youngest child was born, continuing to teach it for nearly 50 years.  She supported her husband’s involvement with an orphanage when he was stationed in Korea during the war by collecting large amounts of baby and children’s clothing and shipping them overseas. Barbara also supported Stuart’s involvement with Christianville Ministries in Haiti where she would pack supplies for him to take with him, and even took a trip to Haiti to help the children.  She was a source of advice and knowledge to many. Whenever her children would leave, she would always say “Drive Safe. Watch for deer.” Those were some of the last words she shared with her daughter and son-in-law on their last trip home before her death.

Barbara is survived by her four children; Clifford (Judy) Kelly of Charles City, IA, Cristine (Tom) Anders of Covington, IN, David (Mary) Kelly of Mead, CO, and Margaret (Brent) Roe of Quincy, IL; her grandchildren, Andrew (Jennifer) Kelly, Aaron (Katie) Kelly, Anne Lappe, Sarah (Brian) De Neal, Seth (Amber) Anders, Caleb Anders, Amanda (Peter) Strutton, Adam (Faith) Kelly, and Zachary (Jenna) Kelly; as well as 17 great grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her sister, Donna Rae Hartweg, her brother, Gene Hartweg, and her grandson, Micah Anders.

A funeral service will be held at 10:30 am on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at Ferris Christian Church in Ferris, IL with burial to follow at Moss Ridge Cemetery in Carthage. A visitation will be held the night before, August 25, 2023, at Printy Funeral Home in Carthage with family meeting friends from 4 – 7 pm. Memorials may be made out to Ferris Christian Church, Christianville Foundation, or Christ’s Freedom for Haiti. Printy Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

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