Ellen Quinn Kelley

Ellen Quinn Kelley, 85, a woman who devoted her life to her family, her God and service to others, died February 19, 2019 in Enterprise, Alabama where she resided near her oldest niece’s family. The Dothan native was a dedicated career teacher in Hialeah, Florida for more than 60 years before returning to the Wiregrass last year. “I do not fear death itself,” she once wrote, comforting her family. “I believe it is not the end, but a new beginning for me. Heaven-Victory in Jesus!” The words reflected her deep lifelong faith. Quinn was born in a small wooden house on her maternal grandparents’ dairy and cotton farm near the Mullins community on the south edge of Dothan. It was 1933, the depths of the Great Depression. Quinn was the youngest child of Pennie Amelia and Floyed Willis’ six children. Her paternal grandparents were Thomas Elias and Mary Kelley; her maternal grandparents were Sampson Augustus and Elizabeth Mullins. Quinn played in the same yards and fields as her mother had when she was growing up. She was an active child, raised by Christian elders and accustomed to hard work. She was smart and creative and loved to sing. She was independent with a mind of her own. On her first day in elementary school, she climbed out the window when the teacher wasn’t watching and ran back home. Her athletic abilities grew with age. She could outrun most boys and outplay them in games of sport. She played softball with local teams and did so for many years; she played drums for the Dothan High School band, carrying the big clumsy bass drum in parades. She was on the debate team, the school newspaper and yearbook staff and she chaired the morning devotional at Dothan High for two years. Most of her spiritual growth was centered in her church, the Dothan First Baptist, where she was an active and energetic youth leader and choir member. She graduated high school in 1953 and that fall entered Howard College, a Christian university in Birmingham. She excelled in everything she attempted. She majored in Physical Education and Sociology and quickly became a star in Women’s Intramurals and an officer in athletic organizations. She was a standout athlete on Howard’s teams, named as an all-star and won trophies, especially in tennis and basketball. She was a sweetheart in Phi Mu, the nation’s second-oldest women’s fraternal organization. She was named Best Pledge and honored as the Orchid and Gardenia girl for her altruistic human service. In the early 1950s, Quinn was among the nation’s best athletes and competed for a spot on the U.S. Olympic track team. As a senior at Howard, she was named to Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities.  Immediately upon graduation in 1957, Quinn moved to Dade County, Florida to live with her parents who had moved to Florida and bought a house in Hialeah, just one block from the entrance to Hialeah Senior High School. At her father’s suggestion, she applied for work there and landed a job as a fledgling P.E. teacher and summer recreation manager. She managed programs for elderly citizens and worked with handicapped children for years. That fall, Quinn walked to her new job and began a new career. She took that same one-block walk every school day for the next 30 years while she continued to live with, and care for, Floyed and Pennie until their deaths.  Quinn was chosen for many leadership roles during her career and was nominated numerous times as teacher of the year. She was voted Dade County Teacher of the Year in 1982. She traveled with athletic teams and with her fellow teachers to competitions and professional meetings across Florida and the nation. She also traveled with friends for enjoyment to many foreign countries, often to play golf on celebrated courses. The talents she brought to her job helped mold the lives of countless youths under her care, and the lives of young teachers who worked with her. In 1978, Quinn was promoted to Physical Education department head and served as the Athletic Department’s business manager for many years. She was a leader in the work of Florida's professional education commission and setting peer review standards. She was passionate in her efforts to help all her students be the best they could possibly be — physically, mentally and spiritually — but she especially cherished being sponsor of and advisor to Hialeah High’s cheerleaders. She was a confidant and guide to hundreds of girls as they learned to cope with life as young women. Her cheerleaders were special to her and many were as devoted to Miss Kelley as they were their own parents. Many kept in touch with her for decades afterwards and several, even after half a century, remained close and went on retreats together and celebrated birthdays together. Some, including Sheila Iannaccari (and her husband, David), gave her old teacher special attention and care during her final years. The women cared for her because their lives were forever touched by the inspirational character of their Miss Kelley. For some 20 years that lasted past the turn of the century, Quinn was a driving force behind a reunion of her five siblings’ families at the first granddaughter’s Gulf Coast beach house. Her stated purpose was to honor the family of Floyed and Pennie. Many family members helped, but Quinn was the choreographer-director. She planned for months, collecting props and costumes, buying custom t-shirts, making banners, writing songs and skits. She cast aunts and cousins, nephews and nieces in performance roles and documented the fellowship in thousands of photographs. Kelley kin came from hundreds of miles away and the camaraderie went on for days. Love for Quinn was boundless. The reunions, and her part in it, kept the family connected and promoted togetherness and mutual values. Quinn had no children and never married, but she was joyfully effervescent in the presence of her siblings’ children, passing her passion for life to them in magical ways. She lived with her parents until their deaths, Floyed in 1965 and Pennie in 1984, maintaining the home as a loving shrine to them with a postcard yard manicured to perfection. She did the same at their gravesite, making sure the flowers were always fresh and photographs of them were shared with family. It wasn’t long after she walked away from Hialeah High that Quinn created a special ministry, one that combined physical education with spiritual inspiration. It was a calling she never expected, but it became a dominant force in her life that continued almost as long as her teaching career. In 1991, she founded a birthday club among people interested in walking for exercise. Hialeah’s Westland Mall management liked Quinn’s idea and she convinced Palmetto Hospital to get involved. Many merchants joined in. T-shirts were made for club members who walked in air-conditioned comfort before the stores opened. Every walker's birthday was celebrated with balloons, cake, ice cream, songs and photographs. As head cheerleader of the club, Quinn promoted walking for exercise and her own brand of inspiration, especially for those with health issues who had doctor’s orders to exercise. Quinn became part of their healing. Along with the cake and ice cream, Quinn distributed small, brightly colored cards of uplifting wisdom that promoted Christian service and charity, gratitude and purpose. She had cards printed by the hundreds to share her poems, sayings and short inspirational thoughts. She left a trail of inspiration wherever she went. Quinn was a bright bundle of infectious enthusiasm that consumed thousands of walkers over the years. The Westland Mall Walkers caught the attention of local newspapers, even the prestigious Miami Herald, and there were many photographs and stories about the unusual ministry.  Service to her neighbors, friends, and strangers in need was a hallmark of Quinn’s life. It was a hallmark of her life in school, in church and in her community. When Hurricane Andrew devastated parts of Dade County in 1992, Quinn drove daily to the hardest hit areas to carry water, clear brush and direct traffic. She was honored by numerous civic organizations for her public service. The City of Hialeah’s mayor handed her the key to the city. Dade County leaders gave her its golden key, too. In the spring of 2018, Quinn left her Hialeah neighborhood and returned to her roots in Southeast Alabama’s Wiregrass to be nearer her Kelley kin, to make new friends and open a new chapter in her long rich life. Quinn was preceded in death by all her siblings: brothers Floyd Willis (James, Jis) Kelley Jr., (Millie), Miami; Wilmer Allen Kelley, (Marilyn), Miami; Charles McArthur Kelley, (Jean), Dothan; and sisters Mary Elizabeth Kelley Williamson, (Gilma), Dothan; Milbra Amelia Kelley Poole, (Joe), Enterprise; and by her nephews Harry Gilma Williamson, (Nancy), Ashville, N.C., and Niles Durand Poole, Enterprise. Her survivors include ten nieces and nephews and their children: Ronald Walter Williamson, (Anne Travis) Deland, Fla., and his son, Quentin Kelley Williamson; Pennie Elizabeth Poole Jordan, (Mark), Enterprise, and her children,  Robert Covington "Bo" Conner (Shannon), Ivey Amelia, Mitchell Alan and niece Courtney Harris Sharma (Sunil); Paul Kelley Williamson, (Lauren), St. Augustine, Fla., and his children, Max Whitman and Hannah Jade; Charles Stephen Kelley, (Wilma Anne), Dothan, and his children Heather Lynn, Aaron Michael and Dyna Walden; Pamela Kay Kelley Colarusso, (Richard), Slocomb, and her children, Elizabeth Kay (Jody), Regina Anne (Josh), Brandy Renae (Neal) and Kelley Sheree; Terry Mack Kelley, Dothan; Cindy Sue Kelley Baran, (John), Bayonne, N.J. and her children, Justin Matthew and Jonathan Michael; Harrison Kelley Poole, Enterprise; Donna L. West-Yordanov, (Gueorgui). New York; Devra A. Gherardi, (Jose), New York; Nicole Annette Kelley, Lake Worth, Fla. Survivors also include her late nephew Harry’s children: Melody Ruth Williamson, Meri Christi Craft, Mark Gilma Williamson and William Hodges Williamson. Also surviving are many dear cousins, great grandnieces and nephews. The family is grateful to the vigilant caregivers who endeavored to make Quinn’s final days comfortable with dignity and grace, and acknowledge the caring staff at Kelley Place, Enterprise Health and Rehab, Center Home Care and Southern Care Hospice. A memorial to celebrate Quinn’s life will be held Saturday February 23, 2019 in the Chapel of Searcy Funeral Home, 1301 Neal Metcalf Road, Enterprise, Ala. Visitation will begin at 10:00 AM with Memorial beginning at 11 a.m. with Stephen Kelley officiating.  A graveside service will be held Monday, February 25, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. at Vista Memorial Gardens, Section House of God 1, 14200 NW 57th Ave. Miami Lakes, Fla. 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