Sally Ford Kelley

Sally Ford Kelley was triumphantly welcomed into Heaven on Monday, November 17, 2025. She lived out her 77 years giving fully to her family and friends. Sally, Mom, Sassy - whatever you knew her by - will be terribly missed by so many. Her memorial service was held at Highland Park United Methodist Church on Friday, November 21, and was a wonderful celebration of her life. In true Sassy fashion, she requested a surprise letter be read at her funeral. Her joy, positivity, humor and love are on full display as you will see below:

"Dear God, Family and Friends,

This is a thank you letter to all of you for being a part in my life, a life blessed far, far beyond what I deserved. Born in the United States of America to a loving family (except for a few skeletons and black sheep) was a great beginning.

How lucky was I to walk through most of my life with Terry. Some of you may wonder, "How did she catch him?" All I can say is, "It was a God thing." We met and married within four months and thank goodness I was a good judge of character. Of course, we told our children not to follow our example, but it worked out pretty well for us. Our kids took their time and found three wonderful spouses, Amy, Ben, and Doug, to share their life's journey.

Speaking of our children, Scott, Allison, and Sarah, they have brought us years of laughter, a few tears, lots of pride, some worry and pure joy from their ten children. Thank you God for Bo, Catcher, Molly, Griffin, Palmer, Peter, Berkeley, Anna, Loftin and Carlyle. Please always remember how much I loved you!

I wanted to mention that I may have passed down some undesirable traits. I apologize to any of you with double chins, varicose veins, tone deafness, unibrows, big heads and pronating feet. However, if you love to laugh, smile and play practical jokes; love nature, rocks and minerals, gardening, hiking, love chocolate, blueberry muffins and avocados, you need to blame part of that on me, too.

And to my dear friends and family. Thank you for showing me how to be a better, more thoughtful person. You were there during my health challenges - bringing food, sending cards, running errands, calling to check on me and most importantly, praying for us. There was nothing more humbling and comforting than knowing we were in your prayers.

Just look around this beautiful church and think about all of the people who have come closer to Christ here. Think about all of the outreach that has been done through our church over the years. What an honor it has been to worship here and how fortunate we have been to be inspired by the messages from Mark Craig and Paul Rasmussen.

If you are here today, you have touched my life in some way as I hope I have yours.

Love always, Sally aka Mom aka Sassy"

Our family wants to express our sincere gratitude for every call, text, gift, hug, note and above all, continued prayers. In lieu of flowers, Sassy would want you to send joy and love to others this holiday season through either Highland Park United Methodist Church or the Reading Buddies Program at the Momentus Institute.

She was a faithful and active member at HPUMC for over 40 years. It meant the world to her and means so much to the communities and causes it supports. Gifts may be made online at https://fs11.formsite.com/hpumc/Memorials2020/index.html

Memorial gifts may also be made to Momentous Institute, a nonprofit supported by Salesmanship Club of Dallas, in honor of the Reading Buddy Program for which Sassy was an active volunteer for 24 years. You may give online at momentousinstitute.org/donate or by sending your check made out to Momentous Institute to 106 E. Tenth St., Dallas, TX 75203.