Anne Wood Kelley

ANNE WOOD KELLEY

JUNE 22,1925- MARCH 6, 2026

Anne Wood Kelley passed away peacefully on March 6, 2026. She gave this world over one hundred years of a heart full of love, a spirit full of faith, hands full of creativity, and a will full of a sense of community and volunteerism. Anne was the daughter of Thomas Lanier Wood and Josephine Venable Morton. She was born and raised in Winston Salem, North Carolina. She graduated from R.J. Reynolds High School and Converse College. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for graduate studies in social work. Anne married Dr. JamesWilliam Berry in 1947 and they resided in Bakersville, N.C. After her husband died of a heart attack in 1955, Anne and her two young sons moved back to Winston-Salem. Anne became the Executive Director of the Forsyth County Heart Association. She met her second husband, Frederick Stone Kelley, at a Heart Association meeting in New York City. They married in 1960 and blended their two families including Anne's sons and Fred's daughter. After a brief time in Charleston, West Virginia, they relocated to Raleigh in 1961. They were married for over 30 years until his death in 1993.

Anne was always someone who stayed busy either sewing, knitting, cooking, bowling, or most of all volunteering with her church or in the community. She was president of the Raleigh Newcomers Club, president of the Farrior Hills Garden Club, and assistant Girl Scout leader. Her faith and her church, Hudson Memorial Presbyterian, were very dear to her. She served as deacon, elder, youth fellowship advisor, campaign chair, moderator of the Presbyterian Women and church program coordinator. She was named to the resident advisory council at her senior living facility within the first year of her move there.

Anne always made friends and stayed active no matter the challenges life sent her way. She played bridge and scrabble and participated in water aerobics until this past year. She made lifelong friends with the Vietnamese family she assisted with transitioning to a new country many years ago.

Anne was preceded in death by her parents, husbands Jim and Fred, son, Paul Thomas Berry; brother Thomas Lanier Wood, Jr., and her son-in-law Robert P. Brewer, Jr. She is survived by son Dr. William Rosser Berry (Julia), daughter Lou Kelley Brewer, grandchildren Erin Berry Spalinski (David), Rachel Anne Berry (Ben Young ), James Rosser Berry (Alta), Michael Elliot Pratt, Emily Elizabeth Pratt, Samuel Hart Brewer, (Helen), Sarah Violette Brewer , greatgrandchildren Noah Matthew Spalinski, Thomas Rosser Young , Hannah Blair Young, Clark Watson Brewer, Davis Venable Brewer, and Lillian Taylor Brewer.

We thank the staff of Litchford Falls and Transitions Hospice for the care given to Anne in her final weeks.

A service will be held in Anne's memory at Hudson Memorial Presbyterian Church, Six Forks Rd., Raleigh, N.C. on May 2, 2026 at 2pm. There will be a reception following the service. Donations in her memory can be made to Hudson Memorial Presbyterian Church.