Betty "Eileen" Kelley

Betty “Eileen” Kelley, 95, died peacefully in her home on May 21, 2023. Eileen, as she was known, was born in Bellingham, Washington on September 18,1927 to Martha Burke and Martin Martinson. She was the youngest of three, with two older brothers, Jimmy and Bernie. She spent most of her life living in Bellingham and Whatcom County, though she resided for approximately one year each in Alaska and Seattle while still living with her parents. Eileen graduated from Bellingham High School and then briefly worked at the Bell Telephone Company. She met and married Hilton Kelley in the late 1940’s and they remained married until his death in 2003.

Eileen worked as a homemaker and raised three children. She also partnered with her husband at his various small businesses. After the youngest child was off to college, Eileen and her friend Rita Gordon, also an avid knitter, opened a yarn shop in Fairhaven. Eileen co-owned and operated the Village Yarn shop for several years in the 1970s.

Eileen and her husband “Kelley” had agreed to pursue travel at retirement. In the mid- to late-1970s they began many journeys. They took a freighter across the Atlantic and ultimately around the African continent, they took a separate trip to Southern Africa, and they traveled in one of the first groups of Westerners to visit China when it became open during the Nixon administration. After a trip to Antarctica, they returned with pictures of the emperor penguins and a lot of white landscape. Eileen and Kelley also went to the Soviet Union when the Cold War influence was still predominant. They toured both Eastern and Western Europe on land and cruise ships, went to Australia and New Zealand, as well as India and South Asia. They continued to enthusiastically travel for more than 15 years, often with a group of friends from British Columbia.

After her husband died in 2003, Eileen remained active with her knitting community, grandchildren, and creative pursuits in the fiber arts and metalwork. She was an outgoing, gregarious, and dependable person who was loved and admired by family and friends. Eileen is survived by her three daughters, Nancy Sonnenfeld, Kathy Kelley, and Barbara Soares (Jim), and her three grandchildren, Zachary Soares, Emma Soares, and Kelley Prendiville (Corin).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Whatcom Hospice Foundation or the Alzheimer's Association.