James L. Kelly
1872 - 1944
Maggie Kelly
1873 - 1961
True Noblewoman Laid to Rest
Here Tuesday
Mrs.
Margaret Steele Kelly, known to her many
friends as Mrs. Mag Kelly,
passed on to the Heavenly home Monday at
Ferris where she had spent her
fifty-five years. Funeral services
were held Tuesday afternoon at
2:30 the First Christian Church, which the
pastor, Rev. Ken Brian paid
tribute to her sterling character and
usefulness. Pallbearers
were Robert Fielder, Byron Whitaker, Zac
Emerson, Fulton Emerson,
Roscoe K. Garver, and Alfred
Baldwin. The remains were laid to
rest in the Van Alstyne Cemetery at the
side of the grave of her late
husband, J.L. Kelly, who passed away in
November, 1944.
Mrs.
Kelly was born in this county on July 13,
1873. Her mother
died while she was an infant, and her
grandmother, Mrs. Eliza McKinney
Milam, a daughter of Collin McKinney, took
her and reared her with
seven other grandchildren. From her
youth she was an active
worker in the Christian Church here, and
with her husband continued the
staunch devotion until his death and, in her
case until the
debilitation of age prevented active
participation.
Praised
by dozens as the best neighbor they ever
had, while others tell
that she did more in a quiet, easy manner
than anyone they had even
known. Whenever anyone was in sorrow
or distress or need,
intuitively she seemed to know it, and never
failed to minister to
them. Her home was a mecca for the
children of the community, and
she always had cookies, and something for
them to play with. Many
of them considered her a second mother or
grandmother.
Still
another facet of this unusual Texan's
character was collecting
historical data on Texas and this
section. Too, she knew the
genealogy of most families for generations,
and was consulted by
hundreds wishing to know more of their
family background.
A
great niece of Ben Milam of Alamo fame, she
represented the true
aristocracy - the aristocracy of
character. Her life brings to
mind what the Psalmist said, "Precious in
the sight of the Lord is the
death of his saints." One of these
saints in the person of Mag
Kelly has gone to be in glory with her
Savior throughout eternity where
she no longer is limited by physical frailty
in the praise and service
of the Lord.
Her only survivor is one son, Roy Kelly of
Ennis.
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