Keep a green bough in your heart and a singing bird will come. -- Lao Tzu
Obituary
Children learn their most valuable lessons when they’re too young to remember who taught them. People hear their most moving music when the songs are their final memories in this life. And in between, the small, the sweet, the quirky, and the kind moments are the ones we want to relive forever. So it is that a lasting legacy can happen unintentionally while living the life of good and selfless intentions Darlene Faye Kelly lived.
Darlene was born in Drain, Oregon on January 19, 1943 to Edward and Pearl Kelly. She spent her early years in Scappoose before moving to Springfield, where she graduated as Valedictorian of Springfield High’s Class of 1961.
The first in her family to attend college, she worked her way through the University of Oregon as a long-distance telephone operator. After graduating with a degree in Sociology, she moved to Oklahoma to join Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), the anti-poverty program conceived by John F. Kennedy as the domestic Peace Corps.
In 1968, pregnant, she moved to San Francisco and found work as a Kelly Girl temp. She persevered through some trying years as a small town girl in a big city during a time that was even less friendly to single moms than today, and, with no paternal support, managed to raise a grateful son capable of penning a halfway decent obit.
She found her calling in early childhood education. For almost 50 years, she was a parent, preschool director, board member, curriculum designer, and substitute teacher at Salvation Army Training School, Practising Law Institute, Parkside Preschool, Magic Years, Miraloma Co-Op, Cross Cultural Family Centers, and Clarendon School. For those who knew her, it is not difficult to imagine that thousands of people may be walking about today with some appreciation for music, art, or life in general embedded during their most formative years for which they may not realize they have her to thank. She said, “kids taught me so much about being light-hearted and paying attention to each moment!”
She studied astrology in depth, teaching others who went on to become noted authors, or just to find inspiration in the stars. She was a spiritual omnivore who spoke as warmly of her mother leading the singing in their little church (“I love those old Pentecostal and gospel songs!”) as she did of the Tao Te Ching. Her lifelong love of music, above all, came from its underlying spiritual, healing power. By her front door, she posted her favorite quote: “keep a green bough in your heart and a singing bird will come.”
In 2007, she joined Threshold Choir, a group that brings songs of comfort to those at the thresholds of life. “Alight with such beautiful souls,” as she said, the group became her community and invaluable support system, and, fittingly, her choirmates were with her during her final moments in this world.
She is survived by her son Josh and daughter-in-law Bev in California, her granddaughter Grace in China, her grandson Spencer in Washington, DC, her sisters and brothers-in-law Cynthia and Drew Paterson and Jessie and Paul Masterson in Oregon, and by her nieces and nephews, Erin and Krista Kelly, Mitchell and Drew Paterson, and Chris and Schuyler Sevigny. She was preceded in death by her parents, and her brother Michael Kelly.
To her grandchildren, she left a surprise legacy letter in the spirit of Buddhist Dharma texts, with insights she’d gleaned in their childhood years when she imagined them as “a madcap team finding fun and adventure in simple things.” In her “Grandma Dar-ma,” she advised them to spurn cynicism and “remember, we live in a sea of love.”
She was a five-foot-tall force who continued to bring joy and positivity even as her health and vision declined in later years. If you believe as she did in the power of small things to have massive impact, her legacy will only expand from here. She will be greatly missed.
Visit https://thresholdchoir.org/ if you’d like to join, or make a donation in her name.
Deep Peace
Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.
- Gaelic blessing
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She was a joy to sing with. She kept me laughing too. Her light hearted spirit brought so much happiness. I’ll miss her bright light.
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Together, let us continue the legacy of compassion and kindness that Darlene embodied throughout their life. Visit https://thresholdchoir.org/ if you’d like to join, or make a donation in her name.
