Lee Anne Gelletly

Born on June 30, 1954, in Bethesda, Maryland, Lee Anne graduated from Muhlenberg College in 1976. She was an accomplished copy editor and young adult nonfiction author, writing more than 25 books in a career that spanned stops at Scholastic Publishing, Chelsea House Publishing, and OTTN Publishing.

Lee Anne’s lifelong love of overseas travel began with a memorable backpacking trip through Europe in 1978. She later spent time living in Switzerland, and traveled extensively with her family, visiting France, the Czech Republic, Germany, Australia, Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and many other places. Some of her most cherished trips were closer to home, including countless visits to Rehoboth Beach, the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York, and a summer trip to Maine.

She also had a deep appreciation for nature and the outdoors. She treasured camping trips to the co-owned family cabin in Green Ridge State Forest. An avid gardener, she became a certified Master Gardener by the University of Maryland, and was active with the Montgomery County Master Gardeners. Her beautiful garden at the family’s Darnestown home remains a testament to her remarkable green thumb and care.

Later in life Lee Anne showed a penchant for organizing and documenting her family’s history. With characteristic skill and razor-sharp attention to detail, she compiled books chronicling Gelletly family history and the artwork of her mother-in-law, among other projects. Her work will remain a treasured record of the people, stories, and creative work she cared about preserving.

Above all, Lee Anne was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. She is survived by her husband, David Clark; her sons Jamie, Travis, and Philip Clark; and her eight beloved grandchildren, Benjamin, Jakob, Nathan, Brynn, Hazel, Callie, Lukas, and Paxton. She took abundant joy in being a grandma and always loved to engage and play with them. Her love of books fit in naturally with the numerous bedtime stories she read to grandkids over the years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Kenneth and Shirley Gelletly, and her siblings Jay Gelletly and Sue Ellen Hamson.

Lee Anne will also be remembered for her strength, grace and determination as she battled metastatic breast cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. Her resilience and willingness to persist with courage, positivity and love will continue to inspire all who knew and loved her.

A celebration of Lee Anne’s life will be held on August 22 at McCathran Hall, 300 Grove Avenue, in Washington Grove, Maryland. The family will receive visitors at 11 a.m. and a short service will begin at 12 p.m. Refreshments will be served after.

Memorial donations may be made in her memory to Living Beyond Breast Cancer (https://www.lbbc.org/) or The Michael J. Fox Foundation (https://www.michaeljfox.org/).

Our family would like to thank all of the friends, neighbors, extended family, nurses, and doctors who supported Lee Anne and helped care for her throughout her illness and final days. The community’s compassion, generosity, and steady presence brought great comfort to Lee Anne and to all of us.