Nancy Lee White Kelly

Nancy Lee White Kelly, aged 81, of Young Harris, Georgia, passed away on March 10 at her son’s home in Winterville, Georgia. Born on December 24, 1944, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Charles and Martha White, she earned a doctoral degree in education and devoted her career to teaching and serving as a Christian school principal. A longtime member of McConnell Memorial Baptist Church since 1994, Nancy co-founded the Mountain Coin Club and owned and operated Ye Old Coin Shop. Her wide-ranging interests included publishing a computer magazine, raising exotic parrots, worm farming, tennis umpiring, flying as a private pilot, ventriloquism, and teaching Sunday School for fifty years. She also authored a column and book titled “Journal of a Living Lady.”

She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, Hiram “Buddy” Kelly; her parents, Charles and Martha White; and her brothers, Charles Lester White and Bob White. Nancy is survived by her siblings, Mike White and Sunnie Anne White; her two sons, Charles (Tori) Kelly and Robert (Amanda) Kelly; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

A woman of deep faith and remarkable curiosity, Nancy touched many lives as a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, teacher, principal, and friend. Her favorite Bible verse, Jeremiah 33:3—“Call unto me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not”—reflected the spirit of adventure and trust that defined her life.