Emily Dorothy Keltonic

1/11/1934 - 9/10/2025

Norwich - Emily Dorothy (Sippel) Keltonic of Norwich, passed Sept.10, 2025, at Bride Brook Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Niantic, after a long and full life. Emily was born Jan. 11, 1934 in Hartford, the only child of German immigrants, Rudolf and Clara (Beck) Sippel.

Emily grew up in Bridgeport, attending Warren Harding High School. She went on to earn a bachelor's degree Magna Cum Laude in bacteriology at the University of Connecticut, where she was a member of Gamma Chi Epsilon and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.

Emily met the love of her life, Frank John Keltonic at UConn, and July 9, 1955, they married in Bridgeport and settled in Norwich where she has lived ever since. In 1955, Emily began work as a microbiologist in the lab at Uncas-on-Thames Tuberculosis Sanatorium, leaving after a year to raise her two children.

Emily was a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and served as president of the AAUW New London branch from 1961-63. From 1963-65, she volunteered as a Girl Scout Troop leader and Troop organizer. Then in the late 1960s, Emily began substitute teaching, while she earned her teaching certificate from Eastern Connecticut College. Starting in 1970, she became a fulltime teacher in the Norwich school system, and worked her entire career at Kelly Middle School as a science teacher until she retired in 1998. It pleased her to no end when she would run into a former student and hear how she had positively impacted on their lives. Emily was a member of the National Science Teachers Association, membership chairman of the local chapter of the education society, Delta Kappa Gamma, and in the fall of 1984, she was named Norwich's first ever Teacher of the Year, one of her proudest accomplishments.

Emily had a deep love of science, the environment, and nature, supporting many environmental organizations, and instilling those same values in her children.

One of her greatest joys was providing a never-ending banquet for the wild birds in her yard. Emily looked forward to the start of May when the returning nesters would arrive. Her favorites were the ruby-throated hummingbirds, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and the Baltimore orioles with their flashy orange plumage.

Emily loved basketball and was a diehard fan of both the UConn men's and women's teams, never missing a televised game. She was a season ticket holder for the WNBA Connecticut Sun for several years, attending home games with her closest friends. She loved swimming and the beach, spending most spring vacations on beaches of the West Coast of Florida where her parents settled in retirement, then later summers at Groton Long Point with family and her best friend.

We will all miss her passion and talent for cooking and baking, ever the consummate homemaker and hostess. Emily had a desire to constantly challenge her mind. This included staying informed about current events and the latest advances in sciences, striving to be more computer literate than most seniors her age, and her love of reading a good book, which she enjoyed discussing at book club. She lost the ability to enjoy many of these interests with failing hearing, sight, and then loss of mobility following a stroke two years ago. Emily was practical, independent and strong-willed, "sticking to her guns," she would say, when she had an opinion. A child of the depression, nothing was ever wasted or replaced unless it was well and truly beyond repair. More than anything, Emily never hesitated to help a friend in need, and was generous, to a fault, often sacrificing her own needs before those of others.

Emily is survived by her daughter, Tracy Keltonic; and son, Bradley Keltonic of Norwich; and granddaughter, Julie Keltonic of Norwich. She was predeceased by her parents; beloved husband, Frank Keltonic; and daughter-in-law, Jane (Degler) Keltonic.

We wish to extend many thanks for the care provided by the staff at Bride Brook Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Niantic.

While there will be no services, a private Celebration of Life will be held at a future date. If you would like, please make a donation to World Wildlife Fund https://www.worldwildlife.org/ in her name.