Mary Sue Ida Washington nee Kelly, 53, of O'Fallon, IL, born October 30, 1963, in East St. Louis, IL, was called home by her Heavenly Father on Sunday, September 3, 2017.

Mary or "Sissy" as she was affectionately called, was preceded in death by her father, Louis Kelly Sr., paternal grandparents, James and Mary Sue (Fern) Kelly, maternal grandparents, William and Ida (Watson) Davis, sister, Linda Smith, brother, Nicholas Kelly, aunts, Dorothy Howard, Birdie Mae Gaddis, and Henrietta Kelly, uncles, Donald, James, Joseph, Calvin, Leroy, Richard and Robert Kelly, great uncles, Calvin Fern and James Witherspoon, and great aunt, Mamie Witherspoon.

Mary was baptized in 1963 at St. Joseph Catholic Church and was a lifetime member of the Catholic faith. She was previously a member of St. Joseph's and St. Patrick's Catholic Churches, and at the time of her death was a member of St. Augustine of Hippo Catholic Church in East St. Louis, IL. Mary was very active with her church family and as a teenager, was a member of the CYO. She was the youngest of five children.

Mary is survived by her loving mother, Mary Lee (Watson) Kelly of Fairview Heights, IL, one sister, Sheila Kelly of Ferguson, MO, two brothers, Louis (Jacqueline) Kelly, Jr. of Pasadena Hills, MO and Shawn Kelly of Lakeland, FL, and four nephews, Brandon, Jacob, and Christopher Kelly and Desmond Moore, all of St. Louis, MO. She also leaves to mourn, three aunts, June Brown and Gail Arrington of Cleveland, Ohio and Bernice Logan of Alton, IL, two uncles, Edward (Gail) Thighpen of Peoria, IL and Ozzie (Kim) Fern of Edwardsville, IL, many cousins and friends. Her special friends, Anita McGlown Anthony, Staci Garrett Clayborne, Sondra Brown, Tony Currie, Carla Moore, Tunde Allu, Kenneth Minnion, Alexis Saunders, Anthony Smith, Antoinette Futrell and Paula Eubanks remained by her side and supported her throughout her illness.

Mary attended St. Joseph and St. Patrick Catholic grade schools. Beginning at age 7, she went to summer camp every year and loved it so much that she later became a camp counselor. Mary graduated from Assumption High School in E. St. Louis with the Class of 1981. While in high school, she participated in the band and was also a member of the Pom Pom Squad. She was actively involved with the Delteens interest group of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and was presented as a debutante. Mary attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO and graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technologies. While in college, she was actively involved in many activities.

After receiving her degree, Mary was employed by Dillard's, United States Army, and the Internal Revenue Service. At the time of her death, she remained committed to her employment with the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms where she worked as a Senior Industry Operations Investigator.

Mary loved to socialize, entertain family and friends, and travel to new places. Her extensive travels included visiting Jamaica, Norway, Cancun, and the Caribbean, with several road trips along the way!
Even though Mary didn't have any children of her own, she was a big sister to many teenage boys in her neighborhood. She would make sure they enjoyed a variety of experiences including movie nights, bowling, summer concerts, trips to Six Flags and Cardinal baseball games just to name a few! She even mentored them and would help them apply to and prepare for college.

Mary loved to laugh and make others laugh; she had an infectious sense of humor! To know Mary was to love her! Even after she fell ill, Mary maintained her spirit of laughter and jokes. She fought a good, long fight! Mary professed her life to the Lord and when it was time to go home to be with Him, she was ready and at peace. As always, she did it her way!