PEA RIDGE — Surrounded by family and friends, Virginia A. Leach Kelly Wylie celebrated her 99th birthday.
Born in Cincinnati, Ark., a suburb of Siloam Springs, on March 21, 1911, Virginia A. Leach has outlived two husbands.
She married William Kelly Oct.
21, 1927. She and Bill lived in Rogers and were the owner/operators of Kelly’s Neon Sign Co. until his death in 1953 from a car accident.
They were married over 25 years and had six children - four daughters, Dorothy Kelly Parker (deceased), Marge Kelly Hensley of Tulsa Okla., Barbara Kelly of Bentonville and Linda Kelly of Broken Arrow, Okla.;
and two sons, Jack Kelly of Pea Ridge and William (Sonny) Kelly of Bullhead City, Nevada.
A few years later, Mrs. Kelly married Joseph Wylie, a Minnesota dairy farmer, and theywere happily married for many years residing in California.
When he retired, they moved to Kingman, Ariz. Mr. Wylie passed away in 2000 and Virginia moved to Pea Ridge to live with her son Jack and his wife Irene for awhile.
She now resides at Autumn Place in Pea Ridge. At her 99th birthday there were five generations of the Kelly family present.