Nancy J. Kelley

Nancy J. Kelley, age 76, passed away on March 5, 2026, at Saint Luke’s South Hospital in Overland Park, Kansas. Born on June 4, 1949, in Galesburg, Illinois, to Wayne and Margaret Milton Johnson, she graduated from Denison High School in Denison, Iowa, in 1967, and from the University of Kansas in 1971. She married James W. Kelley on August 17, 1985, in Topeka.

Nancy lived in Galesburg, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Denison, Iowa, before attending the University of Kansas. She worked for four years at the Kansas Museum of Natural History at KU before beginning a long career as District One Administrative Officer at the Kansas Department of Transportation, from which she retired in Topeka in March 2004. In retirement, she worked part-time for six years as a Patient Care Tech in the Post-Surgical Department at Stormont-Vail Hospital.

She was a dedicated member of the KU Alumni Association, the KU Williams Educational Fund, and the Topeka Jayhawk Club, where she served for many years as Membership Chair and later as president. A charter member of the P.E.O. Chapter HW, she also participated in the Lake Shawnee evening ladies golf league, volunteered as a mentor for HCCI, and gave her time to Junior Achievement. Nancy loved golf and the Jayhawks. She and her partner competed in many area ladies golf tournaments and played Wednesday evenings at Lake Shawnee. She and Jim held season tickets to KU football and basketball games and traveled to some away contests.

Nancy is survived by her sisters Patricia (Jack) Tenhulzen of Florence, Montana; Susan Poncini of Seattle, Washington; Cynthia (Tom) Parker of Ceresco, Michigan; and Kathy Davis of Blairsville, Georgia; her brothers Richard Johnson of Florence, Arizona; Robert Johnson (Heather) of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Thomas Johnson (Jodi) of Naperville, Illinois; and her step-son Darrell (Terri) Kelley of Beloit, Kansas. She is also survived by twelve nieces and nephews and three step-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Jim, her parents, and a niece. In 2020, after 35 years in Topeka, she moved to Overland Park to be near her niece Nikki Thompson, Nikki’s husband Bryce Hagerman, and their daughters Kylee and Katy. Per her wishes, she was cremated following organ donation, and her cremains will be buried beside her husband Jim in the Jewell Cemetery in Jewell, Kansas, at a later date.