News

By Emily J. Minor

    BRINY BREEZES — Carolyne Lanxon Kelley, who began coming to Briny Breezes with her husband and children to visit her mother back in the 1960s, died Jan. 18 after a five-year fight with cancer. She was 84.
A lifelong musician with a beautiful soprano voice, for years Mrs. Kelley was also key in producing many of the spectacular chorale productions in Briny Breezes. Back in Toledo, Ohio, where she lived for many years, Mrs. Kelley would captivate members of Toledo’s First Unitarian Church with her well-known soprano solos. She also gave lessons to many promising musicians.
    “She had a love for music that she carried with her her whole life,” said her husband, Harold.
    Mrs. Kelley died at their home in Briny Breezes after going through chemotherapy treatments several years ago, then enjoying a remission, he said.
    “It came back,” he said, simply.
    A native of Newburgh, N.Y., a young Carolyne met Harold Kelley in 1945 when he was a cadet at West Point. Mr. Kelley said there were so many young cadets swarming the town that a hostess was hired to arrange dates for them, and that’s how he met his wife of 65 years: on a blind date.
    Mrs. Kelley’s mother, Catherine Ford, had bought a place in Briny about 50 years ago, so the Kelleys and their three children had long visited here. But the couple began coming to Briny on a regular basis in the 1980s and have lived in town since Mr. Kelley retired as a civil engineer and lawyer in 1994, he said.
    Together, the couple enjoyed visits from their children and grandchildren, but they also enjoyed square dancing, he said.
    “We were into square dancing for a long time and it created a lot of friends for us,” he said. “But she did all kinds of musical things with Briny and with others in the community.”
    Mrs. Kelley attended Julliard School of Music in New York, and enjoyed performing until just last year.
    The Kelleys also actively supported reading education, endowing two reading rooms at the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library that carry the family names.
Along with her beloved music, Mrs. Kelley was keenly proud of the role her family had played in America’s formative years. Her mother’s family was prominent in New Windsor, N.Y., and their two homes were used by George Washington and Henry Knox in 1782 when the Continental Army wintered there. Mrs. Kelley, whose family supplied food, firewood and other support to the troops that winter, was eventually a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
    In addition to her husband, Mrs. Kelley is survived by their three children: Kathleen Putnam, of Moorestown, N.J.; Kristen Scheibert-Mizell, of Midland, Mich., and Keith Kelley, of suburban D.C. The Kelleys also have eight grandchildren.
    Florida services were held the week after Mrs. Kelley’s death. The family requests local donations be sent Hospice of Palm Beach County Foundation, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407.