Muriel Olson Kelly passed away on October 13
,
2011
at Emerson House of natural causes. Her family was by her side as she joined
her Heavenly Father. She was 89 years old
.
Muriel was born on April 13
,
1922
in Crosby
,
North Dakota
,
the
y
oungest
ofthree children to Caleb and Caroline Olson. At the age of2
,
t
he family moved to Minot
,
North
Dakota where she grew up graduating from M
i
not
High School in 1940. She then moved on to the Universit
y
of
North Dakota
;
graduating in 1944 with a Bachelor's Degree in Education.
She taught school in Williston
,
North
Da
k
ota and Minot
,
North Dakota and moved on
to
w
ork as a librarian with the Special Services in the Armed Forces
,
where
she met and married Major Paul Kell
y
in
Leavenworth
,
Kansas on October 23
, 1
954.
After stops in El Paso
,
Fairbanks
,
Chicago
and Minot the family arrived in Boise in 1966
,
where
Paul was a junior high teacher at Fairmont Junior High while Muriel worked on
raising their two children, Thomas and Margaret
.
In
1969 the fami
l
y lost Paul to a heart attack and Muriel ne
v
er
remarried
.
After Paul's untimely death, Muriel took on the role of
secretary with the Southminster Presbyterian Church where she was also a member
fo
r
over 45 years. She then took a position with the Department of
Agriculture until her retirement 10 years later.
Muriel is preceded in death b
y
her
paren
t
s, brothers John and Winston and her beloved husband Paul
.
She
is survived by her son Thomas, daughter Margaret and husband Jim Ritchie along
with numerous
c
ou
s
ins
,
ni
e
ces and nephews. She had many life-long friends including Mary
Nell Isensee who helped he
r t
o the
v
e
ry
end
.
The family would lik
e
to
extend special thank
y
ou's to the staff at Emerson House and the caregivers of
Journey's Hospice for the
i
r
w
onderful care o
f
our mother
.
A ce
lebration of Muriel's life will be held at Alden Waggoner
Funeral Chapel, 5400 Fair
v
iew Ave
,
on Thursda
y
,
October 20
,
2011 at 1 :00 pm
wi
th
burial following at Dr
y
Creek Cemeter
y
.
In lieu of flower
s
and
per Muriel's wishes
,
donations can be made to the Southminster Presbyterian Church or
the Alzheimer's Association.