Doris L. Kelley, 95, of Davenport, passed away on Sunday, June 30, 2024 at Genesis East Medical Center after a brief illness. A private burial was held at Davenport Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will receive visitors at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 17, 2024 at Weerts Funeral Home in Davenport, with a Celebration of Life service at 11 a.m. A luncheon will follow at Grace Evangelical Free Church in Davenport, where she was a longtime member.
Doris was born on December 8, 1928 in Rock Island, IL to Edward and Minnie (Brady) Eshelman. She graduated from Rock Island High School in 1946. Doris completed a nursing certificate at Moline Public Hospital in 1952 and earned a BSN from Augustana College in 1956. She worked at Moline Public Hospital as well as doing private duty nursing. With additional education at the University of Iowa, she went on to teach children with intellectual disabilities. She returned to nursing and eventually retired from the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center.
Doris met the love of her life, Otis M. Kelley, in a youth group at St. John’s Methodist Church in Davenport. She married Otis in 1956, and they raised their family and had life-long friends and neighbors in the Quad Cities. Lots of love and laughter filled the Kelley home. They enjoyed 42 years together, until he passed away in 1998.
In addition to Grace church, Doris was a member of Kings Daughters and Bible Study Fellowship for many years. She volunteered her quilting talents to Project Linus, an organization providing quilts to children who are ill, traumatized or otherwise in need. She was an avid reader and puzzle worker, spent hours in her garden, loved to knit, and crocheted thousands of her famous “scrubbies.” She also made magical potato salad, carrot cake and rhubarb pies.
Doris is survived by her children Dr. Karen (Dr. Timothy) Maves of Bettendorf, and Matthew (Tracey) Kelley of Des Moines; grandchildren, Jessica (Alex) Braithwaite of Tucson, AZ, Michael (Megan) Maves of Kiowa, CO, and Jeffrey (Rachel) Maves of Groveland, FL; great grandchildren, Liam and Max Maves; sisters, Lois Heinsen and Peggy Lambert, and many dear nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers John Eshelman and Richard Eshelman, and her sister, Edith Bowman.
Memorials may be left to the Asbury-Grace Garden Ministry, in care of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Davenport. Condolences may be expressed at www.weertsfh.com.
