Virginia W. Kelly, a Baltimore native, homemaker and history buff, died July 1 of cancer at her home in The Villages, Fla. She was 67.
The daughter of Francis Anton Weiskittel, an administrator for A. Weiskittel & Sons, a family-owned foundry, and Mary Elizabeth Ford, Virginia Weiskittel was born in Baltimore and raised in the historic Henry Gwynn House in Rodgers Forge.
An Italianate-style villa dating to 1864, the house is at the intersection of Bellona Avenue and Stevenson Lane. Its 5 acres — now lined with Rodgers Choice townhouses — was once was home to ponies, sheep and guinea hens.
"The guineas were always getting out and blocking traffic on Stevenson Lane," wrote Shannon Melissa Kelly, a daughter, who lives in Chicago.
"When she was a child, Davy Crockett was her idol. She jumped out of her second-floor bedroom window because the bushes below looked so fluffy, and she played King of the Mountain on manure piles," Ms. Kelly wrote.
As a young girl, Mrs. Kelly enjoyed attending summer camp at Camp Four Winds in Sargentville, Maine.
She attended Bryn Mawr School and graduated in 1966 from St. Catherine's School in Richmond, Va. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1970 from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va.
After her marriage in 1970 to H. Wise Kelly III, the couple settled in Charlottesville, Va., and later in Fairfax, Va., and Marshall, Va. The marriage ended in divorce.
She was a Civil War and World War II buff and was a fan of mysteries and suspense novels.
Mrs. Kelly trained her Newfoundland dogs in obedience, drafting and water rescue, and was a charter member of the Colonial Newfoundland Club. She was also a member of the New-Pen-Del Newfoundland Club.
An adventurous traveler, she enjoyed taking cruises, zip-lining and mountain biking. Since her childhood, she spent summers in Ocean City, and stayed at the Lankford Hotel on Atlantic Avenue annually for 30 years.
Graveside services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at Druid Ridge Cemetery, 7900 Park Heights Ave.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Kelly is survived by another daughter, Laura Kelly Kennedy of Austin, Texas; a brother, Sturtevant Ford Weiskittel of Geneva, N.Y.; and a grandson.
— Frederick N. Rasmussen