Mrs. Daphne Parish Kelley

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A Celebration of Mrs. Daphne Parish Kelley's life and legacy will be held in her birth state.

Daphne Parish Kelley

May 8, 1976 – June 4, 2024

Daphne Parish Kelley was born the youngest of 14 children to parents James Parish Sr., and Mozella Reed Parish. Born in Hollandale, Mississippi and raised in the small community of Swiftwater, Mississippi, Daphne was affectionately known to family as “Pooh.” She completed her primary education, began her journey towards spiritual development as a member of Walnut Grove Missionary Baptist Church, and learned the value of family and community at an early age. In her youth, Daphne began to earn her status as a dependable family member through her unofficial but highly valued role as the family childcare provider. An avid roller skater and tennis player, Daphne spent her time at Roller World and playing tennis at Riverside High School. Daphne completed her secondary education as a graduate of Riverside High School in Avon, Mississippi. There she was a member of the cheerleading, basketball, and tennis teams. She completed a year at Alcorn State University where she was member of the tennis team. Ultimately, she left to relocate to Oakland and San Leandro, California to start anew with siblings who had previously established California roots.

Daphne was no stranger to work and initially navigated the hustle and bustle of a faster paced California as a retail sales associate at Ann Taylor’s Loft in San Leandro. She then began beginning a career with United Airlines as a Flight Attendant, which allowed her to see many states throughout the United States and travel to various countries abroad, including: Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Thailand, France, England, and Germany. Daphne also worked as a cocktail waitress at Kimball’s East and Yoshi’s, and as a waitress at the Paragon at the Claremont Hotel. Tired from the stressors of flight travel work, Daphne decided to return to college. She studied at Yuba Community College before

transferring to vocational nursing school and earning a vocation degree as a Licensed Vocational Nurse. This accomplishment paved the way for a career in nursing where she served at Delta Regional Medical Center in Mississippi and Shields Richmond Nursing Center, before finding her niche in Memory Care. Daphne earned the leadership positions of Director of Memory Care at Bayside Park Emeryville, Wellness Director at AgeSong Hayes Valley Care and Laguna Care, before retiring as Director of Memory Care from AlmaVia of San Rafael.

On October 17, 2009, Daphne Renee Parish, joined Michael Wayne Kelley in holy matrimony, a loving union lasting nearly 15 years, producing one daughter, Miel Valentina Kelley. A devout, loving and nurturing wife and mother, with an eye for interior design, a knack for cleanliness and tidiness, and keeper of a voluminous recipe book, Daphne was the living expression of making house a home. In December of 2015, Daphne discovered a lump on her left breast and was diagnosed with Her2 positive breast cancer in February of 2016. Consequently, Daphne underwent a variety of grueling traditional and alternative treatments over a duration of 9 years. Despite the physical and mental torment of her hardship, Daphne managed to embody the spirits of gratitude, optimism, humor, and effort, persevering inspirationally.

Proud of her Black heritage and Mississippi Delta Roots, Daphne was a refreshingly authentic, hospitable, kind, and an exceptional steward of family. An illuminating smiler and soul warming hugger, Daphne made a lasting impression on those with whom she would come in contact. She was a great listener who used her voice to speak truth and share learned wisdom. She exemplified love, pride, heritage, family devotion, diligence, cleanliness and compassion through her daily life rituals. Daphne was extremely generous and contributed greatly to the lives of many. She was a devout and loving daughter, sister, wife mother, aunt, great aunt, cousin and friend.

Daphne is preceded in death by her father, James Parish Sr., her mother, Mozella Reed Parish, her siblings, Bill Parish, Mary Parish, and Tommy Parish, her niece, Shajuana BellParish, and nephew, Marcus Ian Jones.

Daphne is survived by her husband, Michael Wayne Kelley, her daughter, Miel Valentina Kelley; siblings; James Parish, Beatrice Thomas, Wilbert Parish, Marion Parish, Brenda Parish, Barbara Ann Williams, Kenneth Parish, Dennis Parish, Karen Parish, Angela Cook, Christie White, and Sharon Parish; and a host of in-laws, nieces, nephews, great nieces, great-nephews, cousins, and friends.