Madalyn Nadine Kelsey

Former Goleta resident Madalyn Nadine Kelsey, age 95, quietly passed away in her sleep on February 13, 2021 to be embraced & reunited with her many loved ones who proceeded her. Madalyn lived a long fulfilling life, one of travel & adventure and for 62 of those years, was married to the love of her life, Charles “Chuck” Kelsey. She was born in the Northern Indiana town of Laporte, Indiana to Wilnetta & Walter Deako in 1925. She graduated from Laporte HS and attended William Woods University in Fulton, Mo. She met her future husband at a young age and they corresponded while he was overseas in World War II. Upon his return, she became a ‘war bride’ when they married in July of 1945. After Charles graduated from Indiana University in 1947, the young couple moved West to California in 1950 and lived in San Gabriel, La Cañada, San Luis Obispo, Goleta, Hawaii, Anaheim Hills, San Diego & Tucson, Az. In Santa Barbara, Charles was a teacher at Adams Elementary School and was a counselor at Dos Pueblos HS in Goleta for 10 years. One of her fondest memories was spending two summers living in a tent cabin with her ‘Ranger Chuck’ in Yosemite National Park in the 70’s. She baked bread & cakes in a wood burning stove and traded for K-rations with the Hot Shot fire crew they shared camp with at Hodgdon Meadows. Along the way, the Kelsey’s raised three children who all graduated from Dos Pueblos High School. She was active with the Methodist Church wherever she lived and became Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Santa Barbara, CA. where she owned her beloved antique store, ‘The Loft’. She was an avid baker and her breads, cakes & pies were always the highlight of any family gathering. Madalyn also loved to knit and was a prolific quilter. She donated many hundreds of knitted caps each Christmas for newborn babies at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, CA. She spent her final years in Murrieta, California. She is survived by her three children, Thomas Kelsey of Murrieta, CA; Jonathan Kelsey of Grants Pass, OR and Deborah (Kelsey)Miller of Anaheim Hills, CA.; six grandchildren & six great-grandchildren. Private services will be held at Riverside National Cemetery.

In remembrance, please make a donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer.