Cornelia Kelly Obituary

Cornelia Gourdin Kelly WEST COLUMBIA, SC - Our beloved mother, grandmother, and gracious southern lady, Cornelia "Connie" Gourdin W. Kelly passed away suddenly on Saturday, October 24, 2015 at the age of 96. Born on May 4, 1919 in Kingstree, SC to John Frederick and Martha G. Wolff, she was one year younger than her brother Keith G. Wolff. She was predeceased by her parents; brother; husband, Joel T. Kelly; half-sister, Eugenia Wolff Walker; and half-brothers, Harold Wolff and Carl Wolff. Connie ("Meme" to her family) is survived by children, Joel Thomas Kelly; daughter, Joanne Kelly Baldwin; and grandchildren, Kevin Michael Baldwin, Cornelia Kelly Baldwin, Joelle Tamsen Kelly and Tisa Marie Kelly. A child of the depression, she lived with distant farming relatives in the country near Salters, SC while her widowed mother worked in far-flung communities as a school teacher. Connie's early education was in a proverbial one-room log cabin that housed grades K-12. By age nine she was driving her mother around town; by age eleven she had her driver's license and could recite her very low license number upon request. After Kingstree High graduation, she majored in math at Erskine College and the University of South Carolina in Columbia. In 1942 she married Joel T. Kelly in St. Paul's church in Summerville. They lived in Charleston during WWII and worked at the Charleston Port of Embarkation. After the war she moved with her growing family to Cayce/West Columbia, where she lived until her death. She stayed at home to raise her children, but then worked for years at Sears, back when it was still Sears, Roebuck and Company. She often visited her farmland in Williamsburg County and enjoyed seeing her relatives in the "low country" of South Carolina. She was a founding member of the All Saints Episcopal Church in Cayce, and particularly proud of her membership in the First Families of South Carolina. She stayed active her whole life by keeping a garden and tending flowers, shrubs and two grapevines. Connie loved card games and she and her husband enjoyed many years of Canasta, Pinochle and Bridge with other friends. She enjoyed traveling with family and friends, especially her son's mother-in-law, Peggy Midgett, to Hawaii, California, Myrtle Beach and the mountains. In recent years she insisted on dressing up and going out to eat in local Lizards Thicket restaurants every day and never missing her weekly hair appointments. We will forever miss her good nature, twinkling eyes and happy smile! The family is forever grateful for the loving care that daughter Joanne gave to her and the wonderful care given to her by Dr. Vijaya Korrrapati, her nurse Kerri, and staff at Lexington Oncology. Also Dr. Gil Rogers, at Internal Medicine Associates, and staff at DayBreak Adult Care Services. Visitation will be on November 4, 2015 at 2:00 pm at Thompson Funeral Home on State Street in West Columbia, S.C. for one hour preceding the Funeral Services at 3:00 p.m. with burial to follow in Columbia's Greenlawn Memorial Park. Family and friends may sign the online guest book at www.thompsonsfuneral.com Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston