Rosemary Riley Kelley

Rosemary Riley Kelley passed away in the early morning of June 7th in Kennebunk, where she had lived in an assisted living facility for two years. She was born on April 6, 1928 in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, the oldest daughter of Stanley and Elizabeth Riley, one of five children. Artistically inclined from childhood, Rosemary left home to study art in Washington DC in 1949, where she met and later married Donald Kelley, a commercial artist and Navy veteran of WWII. Their first son, Jeff, was born in Washington in 1952, and their second, Mark, was born in Philadelphia in 1955. Their daughter, Tracy, was born in Pittsburgh in 1958. In the summer of 1960, the family drove in a black Ford Edsel across Route 66 to Los Angeles looking for work, and one year later they moved to Las Vegas, where Rosemary helped her husband run "Kelley Advertising Art Studio" during the 1960s. Active in Las Vegas advertising circles, and also in Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church, Rosemary taught art at Bishop Gorman High School throughout the 1970s, and thereafter continued teaching privately for two decades. She was active in both the Lorenzi Art League and the Las Vegas Watercolor Society, the latter as president. Her husband died in 2001. After her son Mark moved his art framing business to Maine in 2006, she soon followed him, looking forward to "one more adventure." While there, she was active in the Sanford Art Association, and had a one-person exhibition of watercolors in 2007. Whether abstractions or landscapes, her paintings hang in the homes of friends and relatives throughout the country. Everyone who knew her would agree that Rosemary left an impression, sometimes feisty, often funny. As a mother, she was devoted; as a woman, she was a pioneer. Rosemary Kelley is survived by her children, two granddaughters - Erin Romo and Ellen Radecki - one grandson - Ling Chen Kelley - and her daughter-in-law Hung Liu, a well known artist from China. A memorial service will be held for Rosemary at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City on Wednesday, June 30, at 2pm.Arrangements are under the direction of the Lafrance-Lambert & Black Funeral Home, 29 Winter Street, Sanford. Condolences may be expressed at the Condolences tab at left.