Karen L. Kelly

Karen was born April 2, 1943, in Lake Park, Iowa. She was the eldest of five children born to Leon Leitch and Carley (Kladstrup) Leitch. She attended Spirit Lake High School and then graduated from Iowa Lakes Community College in Emmetsburg with a Degree in Nursing. Years later, she attended Blinn Junior College, graduating Valedictorian, and Texas A&M University. She spent the last 18 years of her career working at Texas A&M University College of Medicine, until she retired in 2008.

Her family was her primary focus throughout her life. She married Dr. Daniel Kelly in January 1971 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Together they had four daughters and eight grandchildren. Karen spent her retirement doing exactly what she loved – rotating time between spoiling each of her grandchildren with love and affection. To them, she will always be known as their special “Mookie”.

Karen is pre-deceased by her father and one granddaughter, Madison Schielack. She is survived by: her mother; brothers, John and Jim; her sisters, Jeanne and Nancy; four daughters and sons-in-law, Mike and Laura Pope, Peter and Meg Anderson, Sarah Walsh, Greg and Amy Schielack; seven grandchildren; many nieces and nephews, and her puppy, Princess.

A Memorial Service will be celebrated in her honor at 2:30 pm, Friday, January 23, 2015 at Memorial Funeral Chapel, 2901 Texas Avenue South, College Station, TX 77845. Graveside Service will take place immediately after at Memorial Cemetery of College Station, 3800 Raymond Stotzer Parkway.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Karen Kelly’s honor to: The Memorial Hermann Foundation, Attention: Dr. Robert Amato and The Cancer Center at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center, 929 Gessner, Suite 2650, Houston, TX 77024 or online at www.memorialhermann.org/donate/