Charlotte Anne Kelley

1934 - 2023

Charlotte Anne (Dukes) Kelley was born into this world during a snowstorm on March 1, 1934. Her father had to hitch horses to a wagon, to go look for the town doctor who was stranded in a snowbank. She waited for them to make it back to the farm, so the story goes, before she decided it was time to arrive. She left this world in a more peaceful, but no less forgettable way on May 10, 2023 after outsmarting, outwitting, out arguing and out controlling age for as long as she could. Don't think for a minute age won, don't think her tough as steel heart gave out, it was her way or the highway, she didn't give in, she simply decided it was time to go.

Charlotte was born to Mickey and Mabelle (Bishop) Dukes, and had a childhood surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, as only a place like the eastern shore can offer. She loved to share the many stories of family and farm one can accumulate over a lifetime spent in Ingleside, Ruthsburg and Centreville. She was a graduate of Centreville High School and looked forward to, and loved the twice a year lunches spent with "The Girls of '52", right up until 2021, when she moved to Virginia to be closer to her daughter. She married Weldon Kelley (deceased 2021) in 1959, and they went on to love and drive each other crazy for the next 61 years. They told tales of holidays, card games, parties and trips with friends, that left us all laughing and wondering if these memories were more "fact or fiction". Having gone through the old photo albums recently, I have found proof of their truth. Some of you may need to worry. They raised three children, Dean Perrone (Gale) of Prescott, Arizona, Jan Kelley Jordan (deceased 2014) and Leigh Kelley McCarthy of Leesburg VA, and had five grandchildren. Charlotte gardened, grew flowers, read prolifically and tamed chipmunks. She loved playing cards, reading the comics aloud, even if no one was listening, vacationing in the Outer Banks and spending time with her grandchildren, either watching their sporting events or laughing uncontrollably to Mrs. Doubtfire, Mr. Bean and old Pink Panther movies. She was handed the baton for apple dumpling making when her mother passed, and absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, made the best crab cakes on the eastern shore. For anyone who thinks they have a winning crab cake, and would like to prove me wrong, I will be more than happy to try yours out. Spoiler alert, you won't change my mind. Perhaps it was her years working as a Queen Anne's County High School librarian that allowed her to complete crossword puzzles with lightning speed, answer jeopardy questions with ease, and be both revered and reviled in trivia games. During the many fund raising trivia nights at her grandson's high school, people either threw up their hands in defeat when she arrived, or, it is said, some bowed in awe and envy. If you needed a history date, a current event fact, a weather report or a stain removed from any type of fabric, she was the one you went to. Our hearts and our clothes will never be the same again.

Mother Theresa once said, "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family". In lieu of flowers, Charlotte and Weldon would have wanted you to do what they loved, to sit down to a meal with your family. If you would like to further express your condolences, a donation may be made in Charlottes name to the Arthritis Foundation, a disease which profoundly impacted her life. After a family burial, a celebration of lives well lived, honoring both Charlotte and Weldon will be on June 2, 2023 at 12:30 PM at the American Legion in Centreville, Maryland. Please join us for good company, a light lunch, stories and pictures that will make you smile and remember.

Arrangements by Hall Funeral Home, Purcellville, VA. Please visit www.hallfh.com to express online condolences to the family.