Martha Kelly Obituary

MARTHA JO (MEERS) KELLY
November 19, 1927 June 24, 2020
Martha Jo Meers Kelly, age 92, of Colorado Springs, CO, passed away at Brookdale-Monument Valley Park on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 after struggling the past few years with dementia.
Martha led a full and family-oriented life. Born in New River, Tennessee in 1927, she began singing on the local radio in her early teens, being announced to the listening audience as "Little Blue-Eyed Martha". (Her eyes were brown.) She later deemed radio as too small for her talents and secretly resolved to head to Nashville to join the Grand Ole Opry to sing alongside her favorites at that time: Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, and Ernest Tubb. Soon learning of her plans, her father forbade her from leaving town, stating that the Opry was "a bunch of alcoholics with broken marriages singing loud honky-tonk songs." Like any good teenager, Martha snuck out of town at dawn the next day and headed for the big lights of Nashville. Unfortunately, her father caught up with her a few miles away, and Little Blue-Eyed Martha never realized her dreams with the Opry. Her remarkable voice, though, would forever grace many a church community for the remainder of her life. Years later, Martha would meet Tom Kelly of Golden, CO, a young Army soldier serving in Korea. The two exchanged letters, and, upon Tom's return to the States, the two fell in love and were married for 57 years before Tom's death in 2011.
Martha Kelly became a hobbyist and took great enjoyment in working with stained glass. She became so prolific in turning out projects that everyone she knew would sooner or later receive a cherished stained-glass creation from her.
Martha Kelly was preceded in death by her parents, Joe and Maudie Meers; three brothers (James, Robert and Tommy) and her oldest daughter, Patricia, who died in May 2019 as a result of a brain tumor. Martha is survived by her three children, Ann Gallegos, Carol Enck, and Tom Kelly IV; her two sisters: Bette Meers O'Hara and Helen Meers; and her incredible grandchildren: Kelly Gallegos, Sharon Girard, Kathleen Welcher, Thomas Enck, and Erin Sarvey.
Martha Kelly was a long-time member of the Church of Christ. She left her wishes that friends and family perform an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness in the name of Christ instead of sending flowers.