Kharla Rae Jolly

Kharla Rae Jolly, a life-long resident of the Tawas area, passed away at her home in Tawas City on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, age 72 years. Kharla was born on September 23, 1951 in East Tawas to the late Russell and Avis (Koehn) Vance. After high school, she was married and started working on her small family of two children. Around this time, she also began taking college classes at the local community college. Many years later, Kharla found a passion to continue her education, nearly completing her bachelors degree and elementary education. In Kharla's early working professional career, she worked with children in Special Education and developed unique loving bonds with each child she cared for. Kharla also owned and operated her in-home day care for a number of years, providing a safe, nurturing, and educational place for young children in her home. In 2012, Kharla was able to step-away from her working career and begin to enjoy her well-deserved retirement years! Kharla was a devoted mother, wife, sister, aunt, grandma, and great grandma. She really enjoyed drawing, writing in her journals, and sitting quietly at the lake every morning reading her bible! Kharla was a faithful member of the Harbor Church in East Tawas, formerly the East Tawas Assembly of God. At church, she anxiously looked forward to the Thursday's Womens Group where she would worship and visit with her very special friends. Kharla will be forever cherished by everyone who knew and loved her! Kharla is survived by her beloved husband, Marvin "Jay" Jolly of Tawas City, to whom she married on August 11, 1990 at the East Tawas Assembly of God Church in East Tawas. Kharla is also survived by her children, Chad (Kristine) Pelletier and Marilyn (Christian) Madajczyk; grandchildren, Nathanial Adams, Taylor (Brian) Wenk, Zachary Christian (Caitlyn Fisher) Adams, Kaitlyn Adams, and Aubrey Madajczyk; great grandchildren, Jude, Isabella, Olivia, Theodore, and another baby girl due on September 28th; 1 brother, William "Bill" Vance; 2 sisters, Lyna Taber, and Sona Simmons; nieces and nephews, William Jeffrey "Jeff" (Kathleen) Pitts, Steven Pitts, Scott (Laura) Guzik, Kristy (Rick) Schark, and Carlita Brown; and many special friends. Kharla is preceded in death by her parents, Avis and Russell Vance; and her very special paternal and maternal grandparents, William Alexander Vance, Eva May Whitehouse, William Frederick Koehn II and Dorothy Ethel Cottrell. Cremation has taken place and a celebration of her life will be held at the Harbor Church in East Tawas on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at 1:00 PM with Pastor Scott Shamel officiating. Those wishing to leave a message of love and support for Kharla's family may do so at www.bureshfuneralhomes.com.