Janet Ellen Kelly, age 84, passed away on Saturday, November 15, 2025. She was born in Ironton, Ohio, on March 27, 1941, to her loving parents William (“Bill”) and Rose Robinson. She spent her childhood and teen years in Ironton, where she led an active life- taking music lessons, playing in the school band, and working in a jewelry store as a teenager. At an early age, she accepted Christ as her Savior and became a member of The Church of the Nazarene, a faith that would guide her throughout her life.
After graduating from high school, Janet joined the Women’s Army Corps and was stationed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. There, she met her future husband, Kletis Kelly of Elkhart, Kansas, who was serving in the U.S. Army. The two were married on June 3, 1962, in Ironton, Ohio. After their military service, they moved to Baca County, Colorado, in November of that same year. Kletis began farming and ranching for his grandparents, Theodore and Naomi Stalford, while Janet embraced her new life as both a mother and a farmer’s wife.
Janet possessed many talents and accomplishments. She was an excellent cook and became an exceptional cake decorator, creating beautiful wedding, birthday and anniversary cakes. She loved decorating, flower arranging and gardening. She was an accomplished seamstress and gifted at bringing warmth and beauty into her home and community. Janet was a determined entrepreneur. From selling greeting cards as a child to Avon and Tupperware as an adult, she eventually saved enough to purchase a dress shop in Elkhart, Kansas. She carried the same spirit and generosity into each endeavor, always caring more about people than about profit.
Faith was not merely something Janet believed but was something she lived. Her generosity flowed naturally from her devotion to Christ. She served her church wholeheartedly as the organist for many years, taught Sunday School, led a bell choir and worked with youth in Caravans. Later, she served as the organist for chapel services at the care home in Elkhart. Whether offering a home cooked meal, a handmade gift or note of encouragement, she poured herself out for others with a warm and welcoming spirit. She gave freely of her time, talents and energy and always stepped into any role that needed a willing heart- living a life reflecting God’s favor and faithfulness.
Above all her accomplishments, Janet’s greatest devotion was to her marriage. From the day she met Kletis, she chose to walk beside him- through new places, changing seasons, and the demanding life of farming and ranching. She learned his world, shared his burdens, cared for their children and became the heart of the home. She lived as the woman described in Proverbs 31: diligent, faithful, generous and full of grace. Her legacy is not only in the cakes she decorated, the flowers she arranged or the music she played, but in the love she gave, especially to Kletis and her family. Her life was a testament to God’s grace and to a marriage built on loyalty, service and unwavering devotion that endured to the very end.
Janet is survived by her husband of 63 years, Kletis, their children, Larissa and Jeff Avery of Edmond, Oklahoma, Bryan and Sonia of Walsh, Colorado, and Brent and Lori of Omaha, Nebraska; eleven grandchildren, twenty-two great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild; and her sisters, Sandy and Ron Sesher of Fremont, Ohio and Judith and Jim Campbell of Guymon, Oklahoma.
Funeral service will be Saturday, December 6, 2025, at 10:00AM at the Elkhart Church of the Nazarene in Elkhart with Reverend Roberto Ibarra officiating. Interment will follow at the Elkhart Cemetery with military rites by the Southwest Kansas Veterans Funeral Honor Guard. Visitation will be Friday, December 5, 2025, at Garnand Funeral Home Chapel in Elkhart from 2:00PM- 8:00PM with family present from 5:00PM-7:00PM. Memorial contributions may be given to Elkhart Church of the Nazarene or Nazarene Compassionate Missionaries in care of Garnand Funeral Home, 514 Kansas Street-PO Box 854, Elkhart, Kansas 67950. Condolences may be posted at garnandfuneralhomes.com.