Beatrice S. Kelley

Beatrice Stea Kelley passed away peacefully on November 11, 2025 in Atlanta, GA, at the age of 91. She was born in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, the second of three daughters born to immigrants from Sannicandro di Bari, Italy. Her father’s naval career brought the family to the port of Philadelphia when she was two years old, where she and her sisters grew up in the city’s South Philadelphia neighborhood. Following her graduation from Notre Dame High School in 1952, she attended secretarial school before going to work for GE where she would meet her future husband, Don. They married in 1962 and Bea left GE to take on her new role as wife and mother. Soon after the family would begin a series of moves that took her from Philadelphia to Puerto Rico and back, then to Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Bea handled each move as she did everything: with grace and good humor, and she made cherished friends in each locale. She loved playing tennis (which she did into her mid-eighties) and bridge (which she continued into her nineties) and participating in Italian language and culture groups. She enjoyed hosting dinner parties and preparing elaborate dinners for family and friends, becoming especially well-known (and much loved) for her Italian cooking. Travelling brought her great joy, especially celebrating holidays with family in Chicago, and she adored spending time with her beloved grandchildren and, of course, her ‘grand-dogs’. She followed her sons’ sports teams avidly, delighting in the victories and commiserating in the losses, and took pleasure in reading and playing word games, consistently besting her children at Wordle, even in her final days.

She will be missed by many, most especially her children who are grateful for the good fortune of her long life and the time it allowed them to spend with her.

Bea was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Kelley; sisters Donata (Dora) Bongiorno and Marie Adams, and her parents Pietro and Anna Rosa Stea (née Virgilio). She is survived by her children Stephen Kelley (Lydia), Christopher Kelley (Kerry), and Jennifer Green (David); stepson Donald Jr (Carole); grandchildren Andrew Kelley (Claire) and Patrick Kelley; step-grandchildren Christina Kelley, Donald III (Carla) and Madison Godwin; great-grandchild Michael Kelley; and step-great-grandchildren Ryan Atkins, Alyssa Kelley, and Carson Kelley.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Bea’s memory to ASPCA via www.aspca.org

Visitation will be held on Dec 6 from 12-1 pm, at D’Anjolell Memorial Home of Broomall, 2811 West Chester Pike, Broomall, PA 19008, with interment to follow at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery, Springfield, PA.

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