Gloria Ann Kelley

Loving mother and beloved local educator and church leader, Gloria Kelley, passed away at 6:40 AM on Saturday, April 8, after a brief battle with illness. Gloria was 93 and was surrounded by loving family members when she passed.

Gloria was born to Dewey and Emma (Killian) Rowan on February 3, 1930 in Attalla, Alabama. She developed a lifelong love of Jesus and his teachings at a young age as an active member of the First Baptist Church of Attalla. A child of the depression, Gloria developed a deep appreciation for this country’s history and government when as a youth she witnessed the nation and the government pull together to the climb out of the depression and achieve victory in WWII. She, more than once, commented that she was 15 before she knew anyone other than FDR could be president. Gloria graduated from Etowah High School in Attalla in 1948. She graduated with a BA in Social Studies Education from Howard College (Samford University) in Birmingham in 1952. While at Howard College, she was active in many student organizations including band, the Baptist Student Union, and served on a Home Mission Board project in San Francisco.

After graduation, Gloria began her teaching career in Etowah County, Alabama. Over the next 3 years she earned a Master of Education Degree from the George Peabody School of Education (Vanderbilt University) in Nashville, Tennessee. The summer following her graduation from Peabody in 1955, she married Thomas J. Kelley of Attalla and they moved to St. Simons Island where they assumed teaching positions with the Glynn County Board of Education and became members of the First Baptist Church of St. Simons.

Gloria’s teaching career in Glynn County would span parts of 5 decades. She taught at Glynn Academy from 1955 to 1960 before spending most of the 1960’s bearing and raising 3 sons. During the 1970’s she taught at Burroughs-Molette 7th Grade Center, followed by Risley Middle School, and then Jane Macon Middle School. In 1979 she returned to Glynn Academy where she remained until her retirement in 1993. During her time there she was selected by the Fort Frederica Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution as its state nominee for NSDAR’s Outstanding Teacher of American History. She was respected and loved by colleagues and students alike as indicated by the graffiti that was once spray painted on the wall outside her classroom window on the second floor of Glynn Academy’s Annex building that read, “The Big House Bandit Loves Mrs. Kelley.”

As an active member of the First Baptist Church of St. Simons, Gloria served as a Sunday School teacher and lay leader for 60 years. The reverend Dr. Bill Henderson once said of Gloria that she, “had built a strong and healthy community of senior women so needed on the island” and that “she is a teacher par excellence”. In recognition and appreciation of her decades of service, Gloria was elected one of the first women deacons in the history of the church. During this time, she was also active volunteering for charities like Manna House and the “Hearts to Hands” meals program.

A life-long lover of Jesus Christ, learner and educator, lover of animals, and of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Gloria has begun her journey into the arms of our Lord. In heaven, she joins her parents, Dewey, and Emma Rowan; her brothers Charles, Clay, and Harold Rowan; her husband, Tom J. Kelley: and many others who await to welcome and embrace her. She is survived by her sons Mike (Macon, GA), Patrick (St. Simons) and Jeff (Charleston, SC); her daughter in laws Kathleen Kelley (St. Simons) and Anja Kelley (Charleston, SC); and her granddaughters, Shannon (Breckinridge, Colorado) and Julia (Washington, DC); and other loving relatives.

All who loved Gloria are invited to the graveside service to be held at Oglethorpe Memorial Gardens on St. Simons at 10:30 am on Saturday, April 15, 2023. There will be a reception immediately following the services in the fellowship hall at the First Baptist Church of St. Simons. In case of inclement weather, the service will be held in the fellowship hall also. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that contributions be made in Gloria’s name to either the First Baptist Church of St. Simons, the Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia, Memory Matters Glynn, or the Golden Isles Veterans Village, Inc.

Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home is entrusted with arrangements. www.edomillerandsons.com