Brenda Kelley McAnnally

Brenda Gail Kelley McAnnally age 82 passed away on May 3, 2023. She was born to the late Brady and Sarah Snow Kelley on April 12, 1941. Brenda is a native of Kimberly, Alabama, graduate of Mortimer Jordan High School, and attended Kimberly First Baptist Church. Over the last sixteen years she has enjoyed living in the Smoky Mountains, the beaches of Hawaii, and the last nine years in Las Vegas. Brenda retired from Engel Mortgage Company after twenty five years of service but she wasn’t quite ready to slow down and began volunteering with The Red Cross Disaster Team for the next twenty years. She loved to travel, work in her garden, and spend time with her family. She was a ballpark mom, making sure all four of her kids were at their baseball and softball games cheering them on. In 1958, at the age of seventeen, Brenda was named Miss America Youth Singer. She never allowed her polio to slow her down and was one of the oldest polio survivors from the early epidemic. From the age of three to age sixteen she attended Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center every summer seeing the same doctors as Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Brenda is preceded in death by her loving husband of fifty years, James Olen McAnnally; her son, James Michael McAnnally; her mother, Sara Snow Kelley; her father, Brady E. Kelley; and her brother, Donald Ray Kelley.

Brenda is survived by her loving sister, Dawn Kelley Bridier and her husband Terry; her children, daughter Michelle McAnnally Godfrey and her husband Terry; her son, Scott McAnnally, and her daughter Vanessa McAnnally; her daughter-in-law, Tammie McAnnally; her grandchildren and their spouses, Christopher and Amy Nesbitt, Miranda Nesbitt Thompson and her husband Derek, Austin and Ashley Acree, Presley Acree, Tyler Godfrey, Chandler Godfrey, Ashley Bridier, Zack and Carlee Franks, Seth and Destanee Franks, Josh and Stephanie Franks; her ten great grandchildren;; and a host of loving cousins, nieces, and nephews.

The family will receive friends on May 13, 2023 from 12:00 to 2:00 pm at Ridout’s Gardendale Chapel. A Celebration of Life Service will begin at 2:00 pm. Burial will follow at Morris Cemetery. The family invites everyone to join them for a reception at Kimberly First Baptist Church following the burial.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mrs. Brenda’s memory to March of Dimes (https://www.marchofdimes.org/donate) or The American Red Cross Disaster Team – Birmingham Chapter (https://www.redcross.org/local/al-ms/ways-to-donate.html).

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ridoutsgardendalechapel.com for the McAnnally family.