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Ann KelseyApril 12, 1948 ~ August 16, 2013Salt Lake City, Utah-All my life I have been surrounded by wonderful people. I would like you to know how much I've enjoyed you and how grateful I am to have had you in my life. I so enjoyed my childhood with my parents Aurlene and Fred Kelsey and my two wonderful siblings Fred (Robin) and Margaret (Bill). We had such good times playing horses, riding bikes, eating good food, going hiking in the Wasatch and exploring the deserts of Utah.I married the best spouse I could have ever asked for, Lester Aoki in 1980 in Salt Lake City. Life with him and our two children Will and Miyo has given me the greatest joy possible.I have met such remarkable people through my work-first at the Marriott Library-but my greatest joy was working for 23 years as the botany collections manager for the Garrett Herbarium at the Natural History Museum of Utah. It has been a great honor and privilege to work with this dedicated band of people and be part of the work that they do. Thanks, you guys, you're very dear to me. Through the herbarium work I have been associated with the botany community in Utah and I have greatly enjoyed my association with all of you. You've meant a lot to me. About twenty years ago I discovered contra dancing and am very grateful for the contra dance community here in northern Utah. Thanks, everyone, for the swings, the twirls, the contra corners, the lovely left hand stars, the smiles, and most of all your friendship.Towards the end of my life I became a member of the Huntsman Cancer Hospital family. Thank you, Dr. Glenn, Debbi Green, Jill Gahlsdorf, and Aryn Nelson and everyone else in the lab, the fourth floor hospital crew, and in the infusion room. You are deep in my heart.Thanks also to the wonderful Adagio Hospice team, Heather Moon and Rosemary Wall, and many thanks to my friends and neighbors in the neighborhood.Well, that's about it. I've loved my life and I thank you all for the parts that you've played in it.A celebration of her life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Ann's name to Natural History Museum of Utah, 301 Wakara Way, SLC UT 84108 or Huntsman Cancer Hospital, 1950 Circle of Hope Dr., SLC UT 84112.
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Sandra McCann (Poulsen)
Wow! She wrote her own obituary with the same grace and goodness she shared with us at Highland and shared with others throughout her life.
Laurel Parker (Rohlfing)
I somehow missed her death! Her mom was in a room across from my mom in the Emeritus skilled nursing facility. She was the same gentle, quiet, beautiful Ann I knew from school. But she never once mentioned her own illness. I remember once asking for a ride home from the U in the middle of a horrible snow storm. She didn't live anywhere close to me, but white-knuckled, she drove me all the way. She was gracious and selfless.
Lori Duncan (Boyer)
Ann was sweet and gentle and so smart. She really was unselfish and kind. I used to love to talk to her and always came away feeling like she really listened and cared.
Susan Kimball (Kinka)
At the end of her life she was thinking only about expressing her gratitude for the wonderful life she had, and to show how thankful she was to the many people that helped her along the way. So admirable. I'm sorry I never got to know her.
Laurel Parker (Rohlfing)
I found Marie Magleby in Redding, CA. She had stayed pretty close with Ann and felt her loss keenly.
Susan Kimball (Kinka)
June Miner also lives in Redding -- I wonder if she knows Marie is there. It's a fairly smal town about 175 miles north of me. I remember Marie as being very studious with beautiful blond ringlets in grade school.
Marie Magleby
I am so very thankful that Ann was in my life. She encouraged me to join the folk dance club at the University of Utah, and for four years we we danced together once each week. Summers were the best, for we danced outside by the Student Union. Those were hippy years, and we wore our flower dresses! I miss those evenings with Ann so much, just sitting here remembering them. And Ann was my hiking buddy. I remember tent camping with Ann and Lester at Zion National Park one summer. A couple in a gigantic camper drove right up next to us, just feet away, and started their generator. I'll be darn if quiet Ann didn't walk right up to them, point to our tents, and tell them to turn off their generator (which they did). She loved the out-of-doors so much. I visited her in the Tetons one summer when she was working there. She took me on her favorite hike. I remember thinking that she was truly in her environment. She knew the names of all of the flowers, and when we knelt to look at them her love for them was infectious. So gently she touched the plants! But what I loved the most about Ann was her ability to listen, to empathize, and to accept me unconditionally. When I moved to the East, I lost contact with Ann. After decades, one day when I was visiting in Salt Lake, she invited me to hike with her again. We shared life's secrets along the trail after all of those years apart. I wish I could hike with her again.....
Marsha Draper (Fryer)
Marie, what a great tribute and sweet memories of Ann; I know you will share a hike together again one day. Ann was certainly one of a kind, so quiet, and yet when she said something, it was most meaningful & thought out. I had a few classes with Ann, just at Highland, but we just had this connection that was very special. I know when I saw her obituary I was heartbroken, not only because she was gone, but because it had been so long since I'd seen her. Love ya Ann! RIP, sweet friend..