Mary Kelly Matherly

1929 - 2023

Mary Kelly Matherly
August 9, 1929 - June 23, 2023
Durham, North Carolina - On Friday, June 23, 2023, Mary Lou Kelly Matherly, loving and devoted mother of four sons and Durham community stalwart, passed away peacefully and on her own terms at the age of 93.
Born in Marietta, PA, on August 9, 1929, Kelly was the youngest of five siblings. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles Oster Kelly and Mary Montgomery Kugle, her brothers Richard, Robert and Charles, her sister Florence, and her two husbands, Walter Jefferies Matherly and Dr. Carl John Setzer.
Kelly was treasured and revered by her four sons, Jeff, Steve, Bobby and Michael, her daughters-in-law, Valerie, Vikki, LiYung and Tanya, and her beloved grandchildren, Erin and Ian Browne, Erin (Yuan-Yuan) Matherly, Patrick and McKenzie Matherly, and Hope and Charlotte Matherly, as well as her great grandchildren, Tyler, Alice and Casey Browne. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews, Charles Kelly, Judy Armstrong Briane, Tara Kelly-Johnson, Colleen Kelly Attaway and Gail Kelly and their families.
Kelly attended the University of Florida in Gainesville and later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She worked in the secretarial pool at the Pentagon in the 1950s and finished her work life with a 33-year run as a well-known and highly respected real estate broker and residential appraiser serving the Durham and Chapel Hill markets.
Kelly and Walter married in 1953 and then traveled the world for his job, building a family along the way in New York, Johannesburg, South Africa, Panama City, Panama, Europe and finally settling in Durham, NC, in the 1960s where she developed deep, lifelong friendships and built a second career for herself in real estate.
Kelly was committed to being an active member of the community where she worked and lived. She served as the registrar at the Lakewood Elementary School polling precinct, director of Durham Multiple Listing Service, member of the Durham Board of Commissions Equalization and Review Board and numerous other leadership and contributor civic roles.
Kelly was a doer when it came to supporting the arts as well, never seeking the spotlight but also never shying away when it was thrust upon her. Much of her contributions and work were behind the scenes, such as house manager at Page Auditorium and costumes and sets at Allied Arts. She had to be "talked into" taking her turns as president of Durham Savoyards and of Durham Theater Guild. Kelly thrived in the Durham theater community and was proud of her many years of service and the fact that she did so without ever taking an acting role in any production.
Kelly and Dr. John Setzer married in 2000 after over 30 years of deep family friendship. They both enjoyed traveling and growing old with each other before John's passing in 2007. They were thankful to join many of their friends at The Forest At Duke in 2003. Kelly and John brought two great families together, and both are also survived by John's children, Jay, Blythe, Lolly and Kimberly, as well as numerous grandchildren.
Kelly will be remembered at The Forest for being a savvy and fiercely competitive bridge player.
A memorial service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, August 19, 2023 at The Forest At Duke, 2701 Pickett Rd., Durham, NC. The service will be followed by an informal gathering and remembrance in The Forest's Taproot Club.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research at https://www.michaeljfox.org/, a cause very near and very dear to Kelly's heart.