Mary C. Kelley

  Mary Codine Vaughn Kelley, transitioned from this earthly life into the glorious eternal realm on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. She was born on June 21, 1935, in Abbeville, Alabama, the first-born daughter of Ether Mae Brown Vaughn and Charles Vaughn. Her parents were founding members of Abbeville Memorial Church of God in Christ (COGIC) wherein, as a young girl, she accepted the Lord as her Savior. Mother Kelley, as she was called, raised her children in the faith and shared with all who came to know her, her firm faith in God and their need for salvation. Through her union with the late Elder Lonnie G. Kelley in 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, they were blessed with six birth children, whom they would move to Springfield, Massachusetts in the early 1960s. In Springfield, they would become faithful members of Macedonia COGIC and nurture and love many more “children of the heart,” as foster parents and mentors over the decades to come.

  Mother Kelley was preceded in death by her sister, Christine Vaughn Stinson, her husband, the late Pastor and Founder of Bethesda COGIC, Elder Lonnie G. Kelley, two birth daughters, Felicia Yvonne Kelley and Lonna Gennine Kelley, and two foster sons, Lionel and James Moss. She leaves in this life to mourn her departure, her daughter Karen Kelley (sons Jegaan Faye and Kharim Barthson, and stepdaughter, Elsa Christie (son Aiden Maddox)), her son Elrick Kelley (wife Marti and son Bronn), her daughter Sanita Kelley (her daughter Adaiah and son-in-law Bryant King), her daughter Jodie Sellers (husband Rocky Sellers and their children: Daniel Sellers (wife Pamela and children Camden, Mila, Rocky), Sarah Greene (husband Khalen Greene and children LonnaRae, Ava), Rachael Gilchrist (husband Marquiss Gilchrist and children Mahlani and Sensai), M’caela Myrick (husband Kysheen Myrick and children Kylan Rocky, Mylo, and Keonni), and Jesse Sellers); her wards, daughters Stacy Waters (daughters Kamille Richardson, Kaydance O’Neil and Kaylani Bell), Sharon Waters (daughter Sharae Collins), and Sheila Waters (son Reilly Smart); her niece Deseree Stinson (sons Ira Glenn and Myshaun Glenn), her nephews Cornell Stinson (husband Troy Henninger), Derek Stinson (wife Christina and son London);  along with an extended community of those to whom she had opened the doors of her heart and her home over the years. 

The funeral services are at 11 a.m. Friday, November 15, 2024, at Macedonia Church Of God In Christ, 215 Tinkham Road, Springfield, MA, followed with burial in Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield.

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