CHARLOTTE, NC: Anita L. (Leahey) Kelly, 82, formerly of Shrewsbury, MA, died peacefully on Monday, May 31, 2010 at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, after an illness. A homemaker and mother, her husband of 48 years, John T. Kelly, died March 4, 1997.
She leaves 7 children, Mary T. Guerin of San Diego, CA, John T. Kelly, Jr. and his wife Renee’ of Falmouth, ME, Patrick W. Kelly of Arlington, TX, Michael J. Kelly and his wife Annabel of Charlotte, NC, Anne M. Kelly of Chicago, IL, Peter J. Kelly and his wife Mary of Charlotte, NC, Theresa M. Kelly of Washington, DC; 3 brothers, William E. Leahey of Orleans, MA, Paul I. Leahey, James J. Leahey, and a sister, Marie T. Sullivan, all of Worcester, MA; 11 beloved grandchildren; 7 beloved great grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Her sisters, Evelyn L. Deignan and Margaret A. Coughlin, both predeceased her. Anita was born and raised in Worcester, a daughter of the late William H. and Eva (St. Thomas) Leahey. She lived in Portland, Maine, Gaithersburg, MD, Cleveland, OH, Chicago, IL, in Sterling MA for 11 years and in Shrewsbury, MA for 12 years, before moving to Charlotte last year.
A 1945 graduate of Ascension High School in Worcester, she also attended college for a year in Ohio. More recently, Anita was an active member of the Worcester Institute of Senior Education (WISE) at Assumption College, taking a wide variety of classes over many years, helping organize events, and participating in several trips abroad. In Sterling, she served on the town’s Democratic Committee and helped staff the polls on Election Day. While in Shrewsbury, Anita was a resident of and librarian for the Westbrook Crossing community. She loved walking, gardening, poetry, history, music, politics, the Boston-based sports teams, family, and her many friends in Westbrook Crossing and at WISE. A woman of strong faith, she attended several parishes in the Worcester area.
Since early 2009, Anita was an active resident of Southminster Retirement Community in Charlotte, NC. She was a member of the Southminster Health Care Committee, read to other residents, befriended many, took part in daily social activities, and was a regular communicant of St. Gabriel Catholic Church.
CALLING HOURS are 5 to 8 P.M. on FRIDAY, JUNE 4, in KELLY FUNERAL HOME, 154 Lincoln St., Worcester. A FUNERAL MASS will be held at 11 A.M. on SATURDAY, JUNE 5, in ST. RICHARD of CHICHESTER CHURCH, 4 Bridge St., Sterling. Burial will follow in St. John’s Cemetery, Worcester.
The family suggests donations in memory of Anita be made to the WISE Scholarship Donation Fund, c/o Assumption College, 500 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609; the American Heart Association, 20 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701 (www.americanheart.org); or Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Attn: Donor Services, P.O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265 (www.komen.org)
Messages of condolence may also be sent to the family on-line at www.kellyfuneralhome.com