Susannah Kelley

Susannah Marciana Kelley, 48, passed away June 27, 2008, after an extended illness.

Susannah, who kept her maiden name as her married name, was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, on Nov. 13, 1959. She learned to walk and talk in Yakima, Wash.

With her brothers and sisters, she attended elementary school in Whitefish and St. Matthew's and junior high school in Kalispell.

After growing up and going to school in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Texas, California and Washington, D.C., she married Jim Garrett in 1987. They settled in Tehachapi, Calif., and later, with their children, in Bellingham, Wash. After spending two years in Nicaragua, they moved to Stockton, Calif., in 2005.

Susannah was a dedicated Catholic Christian who homeschooled her children, giving them the best possible moral and academic foundation.

She graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in international politics, which she followed with a master's in Latin American studies from Georgetown, a master's in business administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco and teaching credentials from University of the Pacific in Stockton.

She taught at Edison High School in Stockton and Tehachapi Unified Schools. Most recently, she taught Spanish at Lincoln High School in Stockton. She sponsored the education of several students in Nicaragua and remained involved in the lives of at least seven families. With her husband, she co-facilitated the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults course at St. Luke's Parish in Stockton.

Susannah was preceded in death by her dad, James Edward Kelley, and two children who died in utero, Quentin Jesoes and Grace Mar'a.

She is survived by her husband James Garrett and their four children, Hunter, Katherine, Claire and Devon, all of Stockton; her mother Sandra Kelley, of Concord, Calif., formerly of Whitefish and Kalispell; siblings Colleen Kelley and her husband Antonino Mendolia, of Bennington, Vt., James Kelley and his wife Carolyn, of Park City, Utah, Rebecca Taalbi and her husband Gustave, of Milwaukee, and Brian Kelley, of Great Falls; nine nieces and nephews; maternal aunt Sheila Wolfe, of San Antonio, Texas; and paternal aunt Mary Kelley O'Dwyer, of Wayne, Pa.

Visitation and an Irish wake took place July 8, 2008, followed by Mass of Christian burial at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Stockton on July 9, 2008. Internment will be in Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham.

The family requests that friends hug their children, parents, spouses, siblings and loved ones in lieu of flowers. Memorial donations can be made to Hospice of San Joaquin or to a local hospice.