Lois Kelley

Lois Langston Kelley, age 97, passed away Friday, February 23, 2024 in Long Beach, MS. 

Mrs. Kelley was born on May 19, 1926 in Tunica, MS, to the late Ethel Edwards Langston and Hammett Langston. Lois Kelley was a seamstress, cook, gardener, and faithful Christian at First Baptist Church Long Beach. Known as the “grandmother of Johnson Road,” Lois dressed and fed multiple generations of the Gulf Coast. She will be remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great-great grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend to many. She met the love of her life Charles B. Kelley in 1941 and became his wife April 22, 1944 before he was shipped overseas to serve in WWII (he was afraid she would not wait for him to return). Giving all the credit to God, they created a loving, fulfilling life in Long Beach, MS. They were blessed to be able to spend 74 loving years together and have shared every drop of that love with their family, friends, and community.

Lois was blessed with talents such as cooking, sewing, painting, and gardening. Her husband Charles Kelley always said he had no desire to eat out because the best cook he knew was at home. The act of cooking and baking was a form of love for Lois and you never left her house hungry. As a talented seamstress beginning in the 1940s, she sewed 83 years worth of outfits for her family, wedding dresses, prom dresses, Mardi Gras ballgowns, drapes, alterations, etc. She began taking painting lessons in the 1970s from local artist friends. She had an affinity for painting lifelike magnolias, landscapes, butterflies, and beach scenes. Her God-given talent has decorated the homes of herself, family, and friends. Lois was also blessed with an incredibly green thumb. Her yard was embellished with over 50 pots of caladiums as well as a variety of hibiscus, hydrangeas, and ferns. She was no stranger to hard work or dirt on her hands, and her garden inspired envy and awe from all who viewed it.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles B. Kelley, parents, Ethel & Hammett Langston, son, Arthell Kelley, daughter-in-Law, Brenda Butler Kelley; sisters, Thelma Prather & Louise Ramsay; and brothers, Gene Langston & Walter Langston.

She is survived by her daughter, Charlene Stogner (Dale) of Long Beach, MS; two sisters, Christine Hathaway of Clearwater, FL & Dorothy Heileson of CA; one brother: Carl Langston of Huntington Beach, CA; two grandchildren, Todd Stogner (Michelle) & Tiffany Tyre (Kyle); five great-grandchildren, Garrett LaRosa (Tabetha), Lakelyn Tinsley, Gracyn Tyre, Landon Tyre, and Demi Stogner; one great-great grandchild, Wyatt Kelley LaRosa; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.                                                                                                                                             

Visitation will be Wednesday, February 28, 2024, from 11:30 p.m. until 1:00 p.m., with a 1:00 p.m. service, all at Riemann Family Funeral Home, 19130 Commission Road, Long Beach. Interment will follow in the Coalville Cemetery, Woolmarket, MS.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like to request memorial offerings be made to First Baptist Church "His Church Rising Fund," Long Beach, MS.