Kelly, Anne Elizabeth
passed away peacefully in Chevy Chase, Maryland on September 14, 2017. She was 88. Anne, the younger of two children, was born on May 23, 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri to John Kelly and Mary Lyons Kelly. She was the class valedictorian when she graduated from Soldan High School in St. Louis. She then attended Washington University where she developed an especially strong network of women friends and professionals. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University in 1951.
After graduation, Anne taught school at Spoede Elementary in Ladue for several years. In the early 1960’s she moved to New York City to attend Columbia University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She received her M.L.S. and then returned to St. Louis and worked at the St. Louis Public Library. In the mid-1960’s she returned to Columbia to pursue a doctoral degree in library science. She was on the faculty of the Pratt Institute Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Brooklyn, New York from 1968 to 2009. At Pratt she formed many lasting friendships with students and was active both in the Union and on the Faculty Council. She became a New Yorker, fully enjoying the cultural offerings of the city, especially the libraries, the theater, and the museums. She continued to participate in Shakespeare Readings until she retired and left New York City in 2009 to live near her niece, Jeanne Noda.
She was the first person in her family to go to college, and after the untimely early death of her brother-in-law, she played an important role in mentoring and guiding her niece and nephew. As a child of the depression, she understood how quickly an individual’s fortunes could change, was always ready to help others, and was a life long advocate for equity and fairness. When encountering those in difficult circumstances, in addition to being willing to help, she would often comment, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
Her sister, Patricia Palaich and her mother, Mary Lyons Kelly Robertson, predeceased her. She is survived by her niece, Jeanne Noda, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, her nephew, Bob
Palaich, and his wife, Greta Maloney, of Boulder, Colorado, and her great niece, Sarah Palaich, and her husband, Robert Heffern, of Denver, Colorado.
Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery, 6901 McKenzie Road, St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday, October 21, 2017 with a graveside service at 10:00 a.m.
Donations in honor of Anne may be sent to the St. Louis Public Library, c/o St. Louis Public Library Foundation, 1415 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63103.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Kutis Funeral Home.