Barbara Lucille Kelly

Barbara Lucille Kelly, known to everyone as ‘the nicest woman you’ve ever met,’ passed from this earth on January 3, 2024. For 89 years she shared the wisdom of her words, the strength of her spirit, and the goodness of her heart. She joined her beloved husband Paul Edward Kelly and her wonderful parents Wiliam Samuel Hall and Dorothy Catherine Murphy.

She leaves behind a large and thankful family that includes her children Cathy (Jim), Paul Jr. (Beth), Joe Sr. (Wendy), and Mike (Jenn), grandchildren Jay, John (Kate), Jackson, Katrina (Bryson), Paul III (Justin), Grant (Ashley), Aurora, Nadia, Lennae (Ramon), Joseph Jr. (Ashley), Christopher, Nolan (Maria), Michael, Ellis, Michaela, Lance, and great-grandchildren Bentley, Kacey, Maverick, Miller, Harper, Knox, Blake, Crue, Kai. Also mourning her passing are the people who have known her the longest, her sister Patricia, brother Bill ‘Skip’ (Bonnie), and her sister-in-law Peggy (Tom). We can also say that she was a favorite to her many nieces and nephews, and Aunt Barb loved them all: John, Mary, Pat, Tim, Kevin, Bob, Mike, Keezie, Connie, Eileen, Peter, Peggy, Kelly, Ann, Katy, Mary, Dennis, Todd, Lisa and each of their spouses and families. Additionally, Steven, Stephanie, Allison, and their loved ones were included in the list of lucky people to have Barbara as a bonus grandmother.

No matter the size of her family, she made each one of us feel like we were special. We all knew that our relationship with Barbara was a one-on-one love that was unique to each of us. Every one of us was her favorite. Barbara loved her life as the oldest daughter of a US Navy Commander and enjoyed telling folks about all of the port cities she had called home.

From early childhood in Cavite, Philippines, to Boston, Seattle, and more, she attended thirteen schools by the time she graduated from high school in Honolulu. Barbara and Patti depended on each other for the best friendship and belonging in each of their new towns. Their brother Skip came along to be doted on when Barbara was in high school, and he completed the Hall trio of siblings. Her family’s final port of call was San Diego, where Barbara met Paul at the Admiral Kidd Officers Club on the Naval Base. She missed asking him to dance during ladies’ choice, but ended up being the one who he escorted home! Barbara thought she’d be a Navy wife, and they married in 1956; Paul had other plans. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon driving from San Diego to Philadelphia (playing Blueberry Hill on every jukebox and singing along with Fats Domino,) where Paul began his engineering career with Westinghouse.

All four of their children were born in PA or NJ. Then twelve years after arriving, the family moved back to San Diego to be closer to relatives and bought the Kelly family home Paul had grown up in on Constance Drive. The six Kellys stayed in San Diego through 1977, when they moved to the City of Orange for Paul’s work. As the family grew, Barbara spent much of her time at baseball fields, school plays, football practices, basketball gyms, and track meets; she wouldn’t want it any other way. She also worked during those years, at a small insurance agency as the office manager, and occasionally as a sales associate in department stores – she loved the discounts! She continued to support her grandchildren the same way and went to every game, recital, or event that was within 100 miles of home.

Barbara and Paul semi-retired and moved to Hope, Idaho in 1997 – living next door to sister Patti and brother-in-law Phil. They had wonderful years boating on Lake Pend Oreille, playing cards, and enjoying Paul’s newfound love for being an Italian chef. After Paul died in 2001, Barbara stayed a few more years enjoying hosting the family retreat house in beautiful
surroundings.

Then, in 2005, she moved to Pueblo, Colorado to be near their daughter Cathy and her family, and eventually moved in with Cathy and Jim in January 2015. Barbara loved participating in the activities Cathy and Jim shared with her, including joining the Pueblo Charter Lions Club, attending performances at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, joining a dinner group with neighbors, going to a book club, and more.

Barbara had recently turned 89, her birthday was November 27th, and she was charming and funny until her last days. She passed along many of her mother’s and grandmother’s sayings to each of us. Mom/Grammy reminded us, whenever she was complimented on her demeanor, that “life’s too short” to be grumpy, angry, whatever, and for her, it always was. Thanks to Barbara (and her mother and grandmother,) the grandchildren are now reminding the great-grandchildren to “act as nice as you look”. How could they not, with her looking over them?!

As she became more forgetful over the last 12 years or so, some things she said became so frequent that we couldn’t help but laugh. We will miss her saying, at every flick of the switch, “Let there be light!” or when she saw that you were doing something, wanting to help, she would say “I shouldn’t just sit here like Mrs. Astor.” She was a champion towel folder until the end.

She knew who we all were, but when her mind didn’t work as quickly as she liked, everyone was greeted with the term darling, as in “How was your day, darling?” or, even to strangers or someone she’d seen the day before, “You haven’t changed a bit, darling.”

Barbara complimented every meal she was ever served, from chicken & dumplings to spaghetti & meatballs, quipping that there was “nothing better than homemade……..” Just as Paul Sr. had said of every meal she’d prepared “Thank you for the fabulous display of the culinary arts” – even if the meal was stuffed hot dogs! The most famous Barbaraism, at least to her children, was her randomly saying “Which one of you kids called it ‘Cyril’ instead of ‘cereal’.” That grew into her asking the same question regarding ever more strange words, most recently ‘which one of you kids called it “ordorn’” (for the color orange.) Three of us always said it was Mike because we could never convince her none of us ever said such things.

Barbara was a friendly woman who loved to read, mostly detective and crime novels, though she did have a romance novel phase in the 80s. She claimed to her last days that she always had a book with her, though that was no longer true. She never stopped talking about what a wonderful husband Paul was, and how much she missed him. Barbara was always up for
dancing whenever and wherever she heard music, especially Frank Sinatra or any version of ‘Blue Moon.’ She drew the line at twerking.

Though it is a cliche, her great joy in life was her family, and she had plenty of joy to share with all of us. Barbara (Mom, Grandma, Grammy, Aunt Barb, Babs) we will miss you. Thank you for being one of the most natural expressions of Jesus’ love we have ever met. You were kind, patient, and merciful. Your gentle soul has left a legacy that will not be forgotten.