Frances Kelley

Frances Woodfin Kelley NORFOLK - Frances Marcella Woodfin Kelley, 85, passed away April 18, 2010. She was the widow of Walter DeKalb Kelley Sr., cofounder of Metro Machine Corporation. Frances was born in Uniontown, Ala., to the late Arthur Paschal Woodfin and Eugenia Carolyn Thigpen Woodfin. She was a graduate of The University of Montevallo. She and Walter Kelley Sr. moved to Norfolk in 1950 when Mr. Kelley was called up as a United States Naval officer during the Korean War. They remained in Norfolk after he completed his military service. An avid gardener, Frances was a member of the Algonquin Park Garden Club and served on the Board of Directors of the Norfolk Botanical Garden. She was also an active member of Larchmont Baptist Church and the Sharing Circle supporting the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. She is survived by three children, Walter DeKalb Kelley Jr. (Jennifer) of Alexandria, Va., Arthur Woodfin Kelley (Elizabeth) of Raleigh, N.C., and Carolyn Marie Kelley of Norfolk. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Whitmore Woodfin Kelley, Catherine Taylor Kelley, Walter Thurman Kelley II, Collier Taylor Kelley, and Charlotte Gardner Kelley; also two brothers, Arthur Lunsford Woodfin of Selma, Ala., and James Paschal Woodfin of Uniontown, Ala. She was proceeded in death by her sister, Carolyn Rebecca Woodfin Weissinger. A memorial service in Frances' memory will be held at Larchmont Baptist Church today, April 23, at 11:30 a.m. Friends are invited to a reception immediately thereafter at the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made in Frances' name to the Norfolk Botanical Garden Foundation. Arrangements will be handled by the H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, Norfolk Chapel. Online condolences may be offered to the family through hdoliver.com.