Kimberly Anne Kelley

Kimberly Anne Kelley, 61 passed away on Tuesday, March 23rd at her home in Prunedale due to a sudden cardiac event. Born June 9, 1959 in Denver, Colorado, to James Richard Kelley (who preceded her in death) and Mary Ann Hellman Kelley, having two sisters Tracy Kelley O’Neill, and Kathleen Kelley.

Kim graduated with a double BS degree in Biology and Physical Education in Fort Collins at Colorado State University. While in college, she worked for the Chatfield Parks and Recreation Department as a lifeguard, operated large ride-on mowers and watered hundreds of newly planted saplings.

Directly out of college Kim worked as a teacher in California for the City of Pacific Grove, then pursued education as an Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic, and eventually obtained a Nursing Degree from Hartnell College in Salinas. She worked in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties as a Paramedic, her skill as a preceptor training new clinicians was respected and sought after.

For the last 15 years, she was an ER nurse and RN preceptor at SVMH. She is remembered for her thorough and thoughtful skill as a clinician both in the hospital as a nurse and in the field of EMS. Her dedication to her patients well-being, and making decisions in their best interest made her outspoken. She was often cited as the person that friends and coworkers would want to respond to their own family emergency situation.

Her wit and sense of playfulness did not disappoint. She was known to eat and then tie a knot in the stem of a maraschino cherry in her mouth and could be seen riding IV poles through the hallways of the ER. Kim was passionate about the Denver Broncos football team and loved spending time at home with her family and numerous cats and dogs. She was the person that would give when needed; her help, advice, and wisdom were never more than a phone call away.

Kim enjoyed creating stained glass pieces and giving them to the important people in her life, those pieces now holding dear memories. Her family, friends, and her work were her riches, as material things made no difference to her. She loved her wife and children, being a loving parent was one of her greatest accomplishments.

Kim is survived by her wife of 27 years, Virginia (Ginny) Davis, whom she met in Yosemite during a music and comedy festival; their two children, Makenna Kelley Davis and Griffin Kelley Davis; her mother, Mary Ann Kelley; her sisters, Tracy Kelley-O’Neill (Mike O’Neill), and Kathleen Kelley; her nieces and nephews, Tarrah, Kelly, Lauren, Riley and Jimmy; her yellow lab, Molly and the cats, Thelma and Louise.

A mass for Kim will be at San Carlos Cathedral in Monterey at 9:30 am on April 9th. Burial will be private. A celebration of her life is being arranged for the afternoon of April 9th in downtown Monterey. All who knew and loved Kim are welcome at the mass and the celebration of her life. In lieu of flowers, a scholarship will be set up at Hartnell RN Program in Kim’s name or you may donate to Animal Friends Rescue Project, 160 Fountain, Pacific Grove, CA, 93950 or Chartwell School, 2511 Numa Watson Rd., Seaside, CA 93955, both organizations she believed did important work. Please visit www.thepaulmortuary.com to sign Kim’s guest book and leave messages for her family.