Sister Martha Ann Kelley, CSJ

(Sister Marie Annunciata)

We Remember her in the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn.

February 5, 1943 – September 12, 2025

In the 63ʳᵈ year of her Religious Life.

Entered: September 8, 1962

Light and darkness, earth and sky, enough and not nearly enough, children and giraffes, Holy Spirit everywhere…

Life is beautiful.  Life is hard.

Keenly aware of the complexity of life, Martha Ann sought to embrace the interconnectedness that she learned of early in the Gospel, and as she grew into an evolving awareness of the God who is “I Am”, always and everywhere.  She also came to know the neighborhood of this our universe, and all that is possible when we know that we are One, where everyone truly has enough – dignity, opportunity, welcome, respect, belonging.

Sister Martha Ann Kelley, with an e, was the daughter of Charles and Janet Young Kelley.  As an only child, she especially cherished her relationships with her Aunt Martha and cousins in New York, her longtime friendships, and her life in community.  She also moved about easily into the lives of the families of friends she had met along the way.  In her, various ministries as an educator, doing outreach to the poor, and caring for little ones, it was clear where Martha Ann found her meaning and her passion.  The consistent call of the Gospel to care for those most in need was a central force in Martha Ann’s life and led her to serve those living in poverty in Springfield and drew her to spend time in Guatemala, expanding her horizon of those less privileged, and deepening her own commitment to live simply.  Her dependence was on God, and her interdependence was in every kind of community.  Martha Ann’s own choice, as a pioneer among us, to have a “green burial” attests to her belief in the Oneness of heaven and earth, and the reverence we must have for the neighborhood of the universe, for all living things.

Now she knows only light, only peace, only love.  This we celebrate today.

Reflections given by Betsy Conway, CSJ

September 18, 2025