Westport Friends Meeting

Eva Kelly Memorial Minute

EVA DAGMAR KUCEROVA KELLY

1922-2006

Eva remains with us as a warm presence ready to laugh and listen, passing through our Meeting as she passed through a lifetime of wide interests, close family, hard work and active sports. In her last years she had severe disabilities, and she met them with cheerfulness and courage, grateful for all help and constantly appreciative of her views of the sea from her favorite house on the rocky point.

She was born in Czechoslovakia and moved to New York after World War II where she married and had three children. She received her Masters degree in Social Work from Columbia University and joined an organization which pioneered in international adoption in the United States. She had a gift for working with children and it became her ministry. Early in her work she piloted children from Hong Kong, Greece and South Korea to this country. Later, as a social worker Eva worked with families of cancer patients.

After the end of her first marriage Eva met and married Gus Kelly and began to spend summers in Little Compton where she enjoyed her love of the sea. She swam, looked at and listened to the sea in all its moods and never tired of life beside it, sharing it with her friends and family. Besides swimming around the lighthouse, even in rough weather, Eva liked to read, listen to music, garden and watch the sunset. For many years she was a faithful volunteer, working at the Market Ministries Soup Kitchen.

Eva also loved coming to Meeting. The “getting there” was as appreciated as the destination, as she would become totally immersed in her surroundings. Eva lived in the moment and that was the essence of her outlook on life.

Above all Eva loved her children and grandchildren and they loved her, as we learned in the remarkable memorial service for her in the Meeting House. Young people of all ages were there and by the end nearly all had spoken or sung beautifully and clearly, with heads held high and voices loud. We heard their loving jokes and were allowed to share their deep sorrow. Her service ended with tears and great laughter.