Martha Kelley

Martha Kelley passed away on Thursday, February 18th, 2021 at the age of 94, and will be missed by all who knew her. Martha Mae Barden (lovingly known as “Skip” to many of her friends and family) was born in Barberton, and lived in the area all her life.She graduated from Barberton High School in 1943 and Muskingum College in 1948. At Muskingum, she met a local Barberton boy named Jim Kelley (BHS class of 1941). Jim and Martha got married in 1948 at Barberton’s United Presbyterian Church, and remained members there for the rest of their lives. Martha worked at the Ohio Bureau of Unemployment until their children started arriving, and then became a full-time homemaker. She was a classic mom of that era, packing lunches for their four children each morning, dropping them off at school, and baking brownies for after-school snacks. She was always on the quiet side, but in words and deeds, she clearly communicated a message of unconditional love to the whole family. In the early 1950s, Martha reunited with a group of friends from the BHS Class of '43 who met once a month to share stories and talk about life. Those eight “club girls,” as they called themselves, all continued meeting for the next 65 years, until, one-by-one, they started fading away. With Martha’s passing, there’s just one “club girl” still living. When her husband Jim retired in 1987 from his 38-year career at Goodyear Aerospace, Martha and Jim were free to travel more, starting with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia and New Zealand. After the first of their three grandchildren was born in California, Martha and Jim began visiting the San Francisco area frequently to see them, spending almost every Christmas there for the next 27 years. In 2019, when that California trip became too challenging for Martha and Jim, the children and grandchildren traveled from all over the country to have Christmas in Ohio, building gingerbread houses together and creating a family memory that will be cherished by the younger generation.
Martha and Jim played life as a team sport, especially in their nineties, when they pooled their abilities to get each other through the day. Jim passed away in May of 2020, but with the help of family, Martha managed to remain in the residence she had shared with Jim until her final weeks. Martha was preceded in death by her husband Jim, her parents Leroy and Emma Barden, as well as by brothers, Leonard (Florence) Barden and Myron (Carol) Barden. She is survived by a loving family, including her children David, Nancy, Tom (Yumi) Kelley and Wendy (J.R.) Swindol, and by her grandchildren Maya, Sean, and Clara Kelley. She is also survived by sisters-in-law, Gertrude Freeman, Laurel Ebner and Carol Barden and many nieces and nephews. Martha will be buried beside her husband Jim at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. A private family memorial service for both Jim and Martha will be held later this year.  If desired, donations in memory of Martha may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Barberton, 636 W. Park Ave., Barberton, Ohio 44203. 

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