Patricia Virginia Byrd Kelly, family matriarch who was active in Right to Life of Maryland, dies
Patricia Virginia Byrd Kelly, a family matriarch who was active in Right to Life of Maryland, died of complications from congestive heart failure and dementia Friday at her Carroll County home, Portumna. She was 88 and lived for many years in Ten Hills.
Born in Baltimore and raised in Ten Hills and Pittsburgh, she was the daughter of Austin L. Byrd, owner of the Harrison Bolt and Nut Co., and his wife, Frances Murphy. She was a 1950 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School and earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University.
She taught at the Children’s Rehabilitation Institute, a residential school for children with special needs.
After a blind date and a two-year courtship, she married Dr. Edward M. Kelly in 1956. They were married at St. William of York Roman Catholic Church in Ten Hills, where they settled and raised their 10 children on Nottingham Road.
