On November 28, 2025, Mary Lou Kelley crossed into Heaven and was joyfully reunited with her beloved husband, Paul.

Born on March 3, 1939, to Frank H. Brown and Marjorie Sheldon Brown, she grew up on her family's second-generation dairy farm in East Thetford, Vermont. She fondly remembered her time on the farm. She attended Thetford Academy, and it was there that she met the love of her life, Paul Kelley, beginning a lifelong partnership built on devotion, adventure, and a mutually shared tolerance for each other's quirks.

She worked at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company before taking on the role of lodging manager at Mt. Ascutney Ski Area—where her organizational skills were rivaled only by her ability to tell you exactly what everyone on the mountain had been up to. Mary Lou and Paul raised their two daughters in Brownsville, Vermont, eventually building a log cabin complete with a fireplace made from stones and logs gathered right off the mountain. Paul built the original Brownsville General Store with lifelong friend and business partner Rodney Dimick, but it was Mary Lou's warm, ever-present glow behind the counter that made it the unofficial town headquarters.

Mary Lou and Paul traveled to Las Vegas over the years and saw all the iconic shows, from Siegfried & Roy to the Lipizzan Stallions. Their final Vegas adventure was one for the books: flown into the desert, greeted by members of the indigenous Hopi tribe, guided on donkeys to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, then river-rafting 51 miles downriver before being whisked out by helicopter. After retiring, they set up a basement workshop where they made strobe lights for airplanes and emergency vehicles as employees of Whelen Engineering, because apparently "retirement" was code for "let's learn electrical engineering."

Mary Lou loved hummingbirds, shoes, Elvis Presley, prime rib, blue cheese, slot machines, and the sacred 4 PM cocktail hour. Her favorite person may very well have been her son-in-law, Tom, for whom she would always put on lipstick, crack open a cold beer, and generously offer a middle finger (their love language). She passionately disliked onions, fish, and yellow carnations. She also claimed she "didn't do dessert," which was, frankly, a bold-faced lie. She was an expert cribbage player, an excellent cook, and could identify nearly every bird and wildflower on the mountain. Her favorite colors were green and black. Her homemade baked beans were legendary. She taught her granddaughter how to rollerblade in the basement, plant tulips, tie her shoes, brew a proper cup of English tea, and string popcorn and cranberries for the Christmas tree. Mary Lou was strong, independent, and stubborn in the very best ways—the sort of woman who would personally shoot a red squirrel off the roof if it dared threaten the robins nesting out back.

We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Mary Lou during her 86 years, including: Maple syrup tastes better when you prop the jug upright and take a swig directly from it. If you can still eat, then you're not that sick. If you find a hummingbird hanging upside down from the feeder, you can nurse him back to health by providing a shaded berry basket for him to rest in. You should also probably increase the ratio of water to sugar in the next batch of feed. Always be kind; treat others the way you would want to be treated. Always wear clean underwear. If you cut the onions up really small, they can go undetected even by the most sensitive of palates.  Ice cream has no calories when eaten directly out of the carton. And most importantly: Don't spend life waiting around for the perfect moment – do what you want to do now, before it's too late.

Mary Lou's spirit lives on in her two daughters, Carla Kelley and partner Sherry Richardson of Springfield, Vermont, and Karen Melendy and husband Tom Melendy of Hartland, Vermont; her granddaughter, Chelsea Kelley McHugh and husband Joe of Windsor, Vermont; and two sisters, Corabelle Ammel and Rita DeGoosh. She was predeceased by one sister, Barbara Sargent, and two brothers, Charlie Brown and Frank Brown Jr.

A private celebration of life will be held for both Mary Lou and Paul at a later date. In lieu of donations or flowers, Mary Lou asked that those who knew her take someone they love out to lunch — a final gesture that is perfectly, unmistakably her.

Knight Funeral Home of Windsor, VT assisted with arrangements and online condolences may be expressed at www.knightfuneralhomes.com.