Dorothy MacArthur Kelley, 1919-2007: She opened her heart to refugees in Seattle
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
P-I REPORTER
When Dorothy Kelley's seven children came for dinner at her Wedgwood home, the avid reader would have weeks worth of clipped articles for each.
She gave her children stories about foreign policy, welfare, health issues -- anything she thought needed their attention -- and instructed them to take action.
"She always had a lot of energy and wanted to make an impact on a larger stage," said son Richard Kelley, who was a U.S. Health and Human Services Department regional director during the Clinton administration. "She passed that on to us."
Kelley died June 21, losing a battle with leukemia. She was 87.
In 1979, members of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic church elected her head of its Social Action Committee, in part for those hours of reading and pushing others for positive change, but mostly because of her compassionate heart that ached at injustices, her family said.
She set up a committee of 12 parishioners to sponsor a Vietnamese family in a house owned by the parish. When the family backed out, the group was offered a Hmong family, an opportunity Kelley supported, even though they didn't come with Christian beliefs.
"We thought we were getting a family of six," she told The Weekly in May 1984. "Soon we had 20. Now we have 34."
Kelley told The Weekly, which became the Seattle Weekly, that the refugees didn't know how to turn on a light, what a toilet was, how to use a shower or how to operate a stove.
She persuaded her family dentist to provide free services, and got colleagues of her husband, Dr. Vincent Kelley, to provide health care.
"They all became such wonderful people," Anabel Reif, a longtime Our Lady of the Lake parishioner, said of the seven refugee families the parish sponsored. "They became teachers and had other very responsible jobs. We were all very proud of them.
"And Dorothy was the leader."
Her family said a boy who was part of the first family who took shelter with the northeast Seattle parish will be at her June 29 funeral there with his own daughter, named Dorothy in honor of Kelley, who was a 1988 Jefferson Award nominee.
Born to Norwegian and Scottish parents in Baudette, Minn., Kelley was an athlete at Pelican Rapids High School. She was a student there when she met Vincent Kelley, and they married in 1942. They moved to Seattle in 1958 when Vincent Kelley, who preceded her in death, he was hired to teach at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
"When she was in the hospital, the nurse said, 'Gee, your mom is really interested in everything,' " daughter Nancy Angelovic said.
"My brother, Tom, and I said, 'Oh, you mean bossy?' She was bossy and stubborn. But you've got to be when you have seven kids, 10 grandkids and six great-grandkids.
"And she cared equally for all of them."
Dorothy M. Kelley
She was born on October 30, 1919 in Bemidji, MN, and grew up in Pelican Rapids, MN, where her father, Jess MacArthur, was Superintedant of Schools and her mother, Mabel (nee Norvold) taught piano. She was an excellent athlete and student. There she met Vincent (Jim) Kelley, and she graduated from the University of Minnesota about the time he completed his medical and other graduate degrees there. They wed in 1942, and honeymooned at the state fair. She became a Catholic only after serious study, and kept a lifelong interest in theology.
Jim's brilliant career in pediatric endocrinological research took them to Texas, Salt Lake, UT and to Seattle, WA in 1958, where he taught at UW School of Medicine. They had seven children, each of whom she loved unconditionally and pushed to get an education and do something good for the world.
An artist, she did medical illustration, and earned an MA in art at the University of Utah. One of her paintings was shown at Seattle Art Museum. For decades she made hundreds of hand-painted Christmas cards each year, and she painted into her eighties.
Her Sunday dinners drew a crowd of family for political and religious debate and "priest chicken" if the parish priest could come.
Her faith was strong, as was her charity. She volunteered for years at St. Francis House. When the Hmong refugees were in desperate need of help, she organized Our Lady of the Lake Peace and Justice Committee to sponsor a large Hmong family. She loved them and helped them sell their crafts, get through school, find jobs, and make sense of American life.
Dorothy was predeceased by her parents; her brother, Robert; sister, Marion; and her husband, Jim.
She is survived by her children, Nancy Angelovic (Tom) of Huntington Beach, Thomas (Barbara) of San Jose, Richard (Theresa), William (Patty) of Marysville, Robert (Barbara), Jean Mcelroy (Mike) and James; as well as ten grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m., Friday, June 29, 2007, at Our Lady of the Lake Church, 35th NE and NE 89th St., Seattle, WA.
In lieu of flowers, her family suggests a donation to St. Francis House charity, 169 12th Ave, Seattle 98122, or to Catholic Community Services.
Published in The Herald, Everett, WA on 6/24/2007.
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