Amelia M. Kelley
April 8, 1932-March 23, 2014
Resident of Los Gatos
Our beloved mother, Amy Kelley, passed away Sunday, March 23, 2014 after a long struggle with progressive supranuclear palsy.
Amy was born in Pocatello, Idaho to Isaac McDougall, an Idaho District Judge, and Grace Zudreele McDougall, a professor of Art and Design at Idaho State University. She graduated from Pocatello High School in 1950 and married her high school sweetheart, Richard Robinson, with whom she would have three children: David, Susan, and Judith. In 1957, Amy's young family moved to the S.F. Bay Area, where her mother's family had lived since the Gold Rush and where her husband began work as an engineer for Shell and then for Fairchild in the early days of what would then become Silicon Valley. They later divorced, and though these were difficult times for Amy, she found the strength to rise to the challenge. She was able to enter the work force and begin her inspirational journey towards a college degree while living with her children in Sunnyvale. She would eventually graduate from San Jose State University in 1974, with an English major, minors in Spanish and biology and a teaching credential.
In 1968, Amy married Glenn Kelley, a certified public accountant. Each had three children from their prior marriages, and together, often with their children in tow, they traveled up and down the West Coast. Throughout the years, these two avid travelers had memorable adventures throughout the United States and Central and South American and Europe. In the mid-1970s, they bought land in Watsonville and established an organic avocado orchard. While living in Watsonville, Amy returned to school yet again, this time getting a degree in nursing from Cabrillo College in 1982. In the mid-1980s she and Glenn moved back to Santa Clara Valley, settling in Los Gatos. She worked as a nurse in the Santa Clara Valley Medical system until her retirement. Over the years Amy and Glenn remodeled and built their homes, gardened, hiked many times through the back country of their beloved Yosemite and the Sierras, danced and attended opera and symphony regularly. Amy was an enthusiastic and involved grandmother who took her grandchildren to all the local zoos, museums, Children's Fairyland, Disneyland, camping and the theater, as well as helping them with school and caring for them when they were ill. Amy was also a passionate 10 year volunteer for Environmental Volunteers, a nonprofit organization promoting local environmental science education through school programs. Amy will be remembered for her life-long love of learning, teaching, reading, nature, and hiking –she was charging up hills until she was well into her late 70s.
She was preceded in death by her brothers, Isaac and William McDougall, her sister Catherine Svetich and her stepson, Douglas Kelley. She is survived by her loving husband of 45 years, Glenn Kelley of Los Gatos, and her children, David Robinson of Half Moon Bay, Susan Niceley of Walnut Creek, and Judy Kelley-Macek of Los Gatos, as well as Glenn's children, Janis Kelley of Sebastopol and David Kelley of Silver Springs, Maryland. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren: Amelia, Katherine and Victoria Niceley, Alexandra Kelley-Macek, Kyle Ritter and Rianna Bowen.
Our family would like to thank Mihret Tesfaye for her outstanding care for our mother over this past year. Our appreciation and admiration also go out to the hard-working staff of the Los Gatos Meadows nursing unit, to Donna, Amy's volunteer from Hospice of the Valley, and to the whole Hospice of the Valley team.
A Celebration of Amy's Life is planned for Saturday, April 12, 2014, 1-5:00p.m. For more info, please contact Judy at judy.kelley-macek@gmx.com.