Charlotte Tucker Kelley

Charlotte Tucker Kelley, age 97, passed away on July 14, 2021 at Isle Health and Rehab Center in Fleming Island, Florida after a long struggle with dementia. Charlotte was born June 10, 1924 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was the second oldest of the family that eventually had 9 boys and 5 girls. Charlotte was the first girl born. A few months after she was born, her family moved to South Florida.

From an early age, Charlotte had a keen interest in education. She and her older brother would ride the school bus from Palm City to Stuart which was an advantage because she received a very good education at the main school in the county. Charlotte loved to read. One of her favorite places to read was up on a big limb in a large mango tree that was on their land.

When Charlotte graduated from Palm Beach High School in June of 1942, she traveled to Chautauqua, New York. Following in the footsteps of her older brother Bob and younger sister Virginia, she got a job at the Chautauqua Institution. She saw all the operas and concerts that were offered. In her later years she always remarked on what a wonderful experience that had been.

After that summer ended, Charlotte got a job at a GE plant in Fort Wayne where she typed up shipping labels and bills of lading. Her sister Virginia got a job at the Curtiss Wright aircraft factory in Buffalo, New York and eventually Charlotte also moved there and got a job at Curtiss Wright. She worked building C-46 cargo planes. Because she was small, one of her jobs was to climb in the wings and rivet them in place.

As World War II wound down, the big factories started to slow production. Charlotte decided to go home to Stuart. She had been wanting to join the WAVES for quite a while, so she enlisted in May of 1945. After completing her training, she was stationed at the US Naval Hospital in Long Beach, California where she was a Pharmacist’s Mate. She was honorably discharged in July of 1946.

About six weeks after returning home, Charlotte enrolled at Palm Beach Junior College where she met the love of her life, George. They married in 1947. After a break during the time that George pursued his PhD and they had four children, Charlotte returned to college when their youngest child entered elementary school. Charlotte graduated from Jacksonville University with a degree in Medical Technology. She went to work at Duval Medical Center (now UF Health Jacksonville) in the lab for many years.

Later in life, she continued to have a desire to help people. She became a teacher’s aide in kindergarten at Southside Estates Elementary and later at Woodland Acres Elementary. After that, she became a volunteer with the Memorial Hospital Jacksonville Auxiliary for several years.

Continuing her lifelong love of learning, in retirement Charlotte joined book study groups (especially history), attended lectures at UNF and went to the symphony. She continued these activities as long as she could.

Charlotte is predeceased by her parents Charles Albert Tucker and Lida Cormany Tucker, her loving husband George Greene Kelley and ten of her thirteen siblings.

Charlotte is survived by three brothers (Herbert, Raymond and Richard Tucker) and her children Hugh Kelley (Elizabeth Cates), Karen Wishart (Richard), Gregory Kelley (Marian) and Matthew Kelley (Karen). Charlotte is also survived by her grandchildren Keegan Kelley, Caitlyn Kelley (Christian Valley), Bronwyn Kelley (Grant Cooper), Matthew Wishart, Mark Wishart, Charles Kelley, Cecilia Priday (Lee), Fergus Kelley (Piper), Lydia Sharp (Michael), Christopher Kelley (Adrian) and Brian Kelley (Nicole). Charlotte is also survived by her great-grandchildren Roman, Sawyer, Sophia, Freya, Imogen, Natalie, Amelia and Clementine as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to Vitas Hospice for stepping in at a critical moment to help Charlotte as she approached the end of her life.

Charlotte and George will be laid to rest in a private interment service with military honors at Jacksonville National Cemetery.