Marlyn Anita MacDougald O'Kelley

Marlyn Anita MacDougald O’Kelley passed away peacefully at her home on July 17, 2024. Born in Louisville, KY in 1943, Marlyn developed a lifelong love of horses. She was a dear, sweet soul who dedicated her life to her family and was passionate about sports, animals, and teaching the many students, whose lives she impacted over the years.

After spending her early years in Kentucky, she moved to Alabama, where she graduated from Charles Henderson High School in Troy, AL. She attended Troy State University and received a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. Marlyn’s first teaching job took her to Florida with the Bay County Board of Public Instruction in Panama City. There, on March 26, 1969, she met the love of her life, Charlie. They were married at Tyndall Air Force base on July 19, 1969.

Marlyn was a member of the Danielsville United Methodist Church. She loved her Georgia Bulldogs, the Troy State Trojans, and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. She loved her many pets over the years, especially her horses: Ginny and Surprise, her dogs: Lucy, Mac, and Ginny, along with her recent addition of two kittens, which she named Charlie and Alexander.

She loved being a teacher and spent over 35 years teaching until she retired from Colbert Elementary in Colbert, GA.

She loved her friends, Diane Woods, Kim Mallone, Jenny Lou Wilson and so many more. She loved her monthly lunches with her retired teacher friends, and more than anything, she loved her students. No matter where she went, people would come up to her and tell her how much THEY loved her and this is her legacy.

Marlyn is preceded in death by her parents: Thomas Alan MacDougald, and Virginia Louise MacDougald; brother-in-law, Alan Gerling; grandson, Cord O’Kelley; beloved aunts, uncles, cousins; and her husband, of 55 years, Charles Alexander O’Kelley Sr.

She is survived by her children: Charles A. O’Kelley Jr. (Amanda, Haiden and Corbett) and Shannon O’Kelley Harris (Chris) and her grandchildren: Elijah O’Kelley (Autumn) and Hannah O’Kelley, and her great-grandson, Elijah O’Kelley Jr. She is also survived by her sisters in marriage: Vanessa O’Kelley Weathersbee, Valentina O’Kelley Gerling, Vicki O’Kelley Craft, Donna Jean O’Kelley; and brothers in marriage, Joe Frank O’Kelley Jr. and Robert O’Neil O’Kelley; and their families and her many cousins who loved and cared for her deeply.

A visitation for Marlyn will be held Sunday, July 28, 2024, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Bernstein Funeral Home, 3195 Atlanta Hwy., Athens, GA 30606, followed by a celebration of life at 2:00 PM, also at Bernstein Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 453, Danielsville, GA 30633; https://www.moaspets.com/donate

Bernstein Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.