Flora Ann Kearley

Flora Kearley was born in the Brownsville community of Pensacola, FL to parents, Bosso and Maggie Wilson whom she loved. She had a beloved brother whom they lost when he drowned as a teen. She had two sisters, Louise and Lorine whom Flora always remained close to all their lives and loved very much. She graduated high school and worked in the Pensacola courthouse making mimeograph document copies. She later worked selling shoes in a shoe store. That is until her preacher, Brother Casey, asked her to meet someone at the bus stop, a young song leader, Willis Edwin Kearley, who was to lead singing for the gospel meeting being held at her church. Their love for the Lord brought them together. She fell in love with his great tenor voice and he with her beautiful soprano voice. They married in Pensacola shortly afterward in 1951, both at age 22. Flora became a very devoted wife and later devoted mother to their four children, Michael, Marsha (Meehan), Melanie (Morrow), and Melinda (Vinyard). They remained married until Edwin's death in 2000. Flora was always so lively. She loved to do things, go places, and make things with her hands. She painted all the back drops for her preacher husband’s sermons before computers were used to make slices via Power Point. She also made sure her husband made time for not only studying his sermons but for having fun with the family. If he went on engagements to preach out of town she would encourage him to make it a family trip where they could enjoy a water park or amusement park for some family time.at Six Flags, Opry Land, and picnics after church. She would have made a wonderful school teacher but she stayed home with her children and made sure they were taken care of - well fed, clean, well dressed, and that they acted right. She and her husband also taught their children to love singing. They would attend all the area gospel meetings and area wide singings where her husband would lead singing, as well as singing at church. They also sang together on the radio, at weddings, and funerals. She loved to teach and create things for Bible lessons in her Sunday school classes and spent a lot of time setting up her classrooms and decorating the bulletin boards there. Her son recalls she was always doing her crafts for Sunday School. She put together her children's school memorabilia in a scrapbook of all their grades from 1st grade to 12th grade, including her son's Boy Scout's years at Mars Hill Bible School. She sewed clothes for her children and grandchildren. She would make Barbie and baby doll clothes because she loved crafts and she loved making her children and grandkids happy. She helped her children with school projects. She once helped her daughter, Melinda make an entire Shakespeare Theatre out of cardboard and made a little bed out of a plastic container for her when she had to carry around an egg for a school project. She helped all three of her daughters raise funds for a college chorus and mission trips by sending around letters to friends. She at one point had a babysitting business and bought a car for her daughter's, Marsha and Melanie, to get back and forth from college. All of her children and grandkids appreciated the time she took to make the trinket boxes she made for them every year at Christmas. She also made tree skirts and various ornaments for her children's Christmas trees. Her son says when he was on work trips or out and about she was always there to answer the phone to hear his problems like his father was. Flora lived a full life and did God's work as a preacher's wife and Christian woman which was not easy while working in mission locations, moving multiple times. In the last few years she had dementia and didn't know her children or grandchildren anymore. But there were moments when they could see the mother and grandmother they remembered. Life can be cruel and though it was hard dealing with what happened to her mind over time, because she also loved to take pictures, her children have many family picture memories to look back on over the years.

She is survived by her children, Mike Kearley (Patricia), Marsha Meehan (Kevin), Melanie Morrow (John), Melinda Vinyard (Mike); Grandchildren: Brendan Meehan, Shaun Meehan, Michele Rushing, Maria Cutrell, Melody Bailey, Keith Vinyard, Ashley Jones, and great-grandchildren: Elisa Payton, Seana Pearce, Dakota Rushing, Roy Carwile, Charlie Cutrell, Patrick Cutrell, Edwina Bailey, Mikell Bailey, Bryson Bailey, Joseph Morrow, Bentley Jones, Cole Jones, Wesley Jones, and Ashlyn Jones; Great great Grandchild: Colton Payton; Nieces: Linda Knouse and Brenda Diane .

She is predeceased by: Her husband: Willis Edwin Kearley; Her parents: Bosso and Maggie Wilson; Her siblings: Arthur Wilson, Louise Taylor, and Lorine Weaver.

A visitation for Flora will be held Saturday, June 10, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM with A Celebration of Life Chapel Service beginning at 11 White Chapel- Greenwood Funeral Home 909 Lincoln Road Montgomery, AL 36109.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.WhiteChapel-GreenwoodFH.com for the Kearly family.