| Graduation Year | Class of 1973 |
| Date of Passing | Jan 21, 2012 |
| About | Virginia “Ginny” Kelley, 57, Kokomo, died Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, at her home in the company of her loving family. Ginny was born June 27, 1954, in Genoa, Ohio, to Julian and Ninfa Zapata. She graduated from Genoa High Area High School in 1973 and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in December 1974. From March 1975 until December 1978, she was assigned to the 305th Security Police Squadron at Grissom Air Force Base and was tremendously proud of her military service. She was employed as a telecommunications operator with the Indiana State Police at the Peru Post from 1979 until she retired as the communications supervisor in 2009. The people at the Peru Post were like her second family to Ginny, and for many years, she organized the annual Christmas party at the post, doting over the children of her friends and assuming the role as Santa’s helper. Her family at the Peru Post supported Ginny throughout her extended battle with pancreatic cancer. A lifelong member of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, Ginny participated in countless community activities, including helping families at Christmas time, supporting local Red Cross blood drives and volunteering in charitable events to support a variety of social agencies and health related causes. She was active in the Oak Brook Community Church. Ginny’s family would like to thank her sorority sisters as well as her friends at Oak Brook for their heartfelt concern and assistance during her illness. Ginny is survived by her daughter, Annie (Grant) Robb; son, Michael (Mandy) Kelley; four grandchildren, Raegen Robb, Grant Robb, Addison Robb, and Maci Kelley; her friend and former husband, Tom Kelley; sisters, Helen Zapata and Mary Estrada; and brother, Michael Zapata, all of Toledo, Ohio. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Julian Zapata; and sister, Irene Benavidez. Funeral services are 1 p.m. Wednesday at Shirley and Stout Funeral Home and Crematory, 1315 W. Lincoln Road, with Chaplin John Murdock officiating. Burial will follow in Mound Cemetery in western Howard County with military rites by the U.S. Air Force and Howard County Military Rites Team. Friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. |
