The following is the obituary shared with Update from Norva’s family.
A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, Norva Lee Kelly passed away at her home in Duarte, CA on June 11, 2022, at the age of 86. She left behind her husband Ronald Kelly, her children Ronda Perry, Kara Zebrowski, Randel Kelly, Shari Campa and Michelle Suckling, her son-in-laws Marty Perry, Dan Zebrowski, Jorg Kelly, John Campa, and Bruce Suckling, along with her sisters, Natalie and Kaye and her brothers Jack, Dennis and Ray. She was blessed with ten grandchildren, two grandchildren by affection, six great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She extended her family to include those not just related by blood but those that she loved as her own.
Born in Yellville, Arkansas, Norva was the daughter of Norvel & Alvah Pyle. While the family may not have had an abundance of money, they had an abundance of love, laughter, and joy. She always drew fondly on her Arkansas roots, for it is there she learned to love family, traditions, and most importantly, Jesus. Throughout the years she resided in Yakima, WA; Pasadena, CA; Sacramento, CA; Oakland, CA; Longmont, CO; and Big Sandy, TX. It was in college in Pasadena, CA that she met and married Ronald Kelly. They were wed on August 28, 1960, and were blessed with sixty-two years together, with the last thirty-six years spent in Duarte, CA.
If you knew Norva, you loved her. She loved God, her husband, and her family above all else. She inherited her cooking skills from her mother and spent countless hours in the kitchen making meals, first for her growing family and eventually adding friends who became family, spouses, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren around the dinner table. Friday night dinners became sacred gatherings. She enjoyed many years of traveling the world with Ron, supported his love of landscape photography, and even indulged him occasionally by posing for a picture. She cherished her friendships and was always the first to reach out to others when they were hurting in any way. She was one of the godliest women you could ever meet, and a prayer warrior who loved sharing scripture in a tender-hearted way with those who mattered most in her life. Being a grandmother and great-grandmother was a role she cherished. She embodied love in a multitude of ways — she was a baby whisperer, a reader of countless children’s books, a supporter of academics and the arts, a shoulder to cry on, and the one to call to celebrate any achievement. She was our angel on earth.
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