Janene Tracy Kelley passed away March 12, 2019, at age 77 after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis. Born Sharon Janene Tracy on April 14, 1941, to Lloyd and Evelyn Tracy, she was raised in Umatilla, OR. As the story goes, she had a horse named Penny, and that is all she really told us about her childhood, and a few bits and pieces about Great-Grandpa fishing and the Pendleton Round-Up.
She moved to Portland after High School and attended beauty school, which was her primary career until her three sons came into her life. At some point in there, she changed her name to Janene Tracy Kelley – she went by Tracy to most and Jean to others, which is really quite confusing…there might be other aliases we don’t know about. She kept a few clients in the hairdressing business and our house frequently smelled of perm solution. She was also a very talented artist in ceramics, watercolor, oils, really any medium she could find. Ceramics was a big chunk of her art and everyone has a nativity scene or Father Christmas or mouse tree, and if you don’t, let us know, we have extras. There was even a kiln in the family room!
During the early phases of MS, she went colorblind for a bit…made her art a little interesting from time to time. Around 1989 she moved back to Hermiston, OR, lived with her brother, Jim, and got to enjoy her nieces and nephew. She continued the art, switching to more oil paintings and cleaning house at the county fair art show. Around 2003 she moved to Bozeman, MT to be closer to her sons and growing tribe of grandkids. She was well known throughout the apartment and shopping complex she lived in and was always in conversation with someone spinning some yarn. She had no comprehension of the word ‘stranger’; she would talk to literally anyone, whether they wanted to be part of it or not.
Once the disease robbed her of the ability to paint, she kicked her reading habit into high gear, logging 1,094 books read from 1998-2019 (she had a log of all of them). Tracy was also constantly writing letters and cards to friends and family. There were a few attempts to get her into the digital age with disastrous results, she was analog all the way. She was intensely proud of her grandkids and would brag about them to anyone within earshot. She fought MS with a will and fierce determination that was truly unbelievable. She beat the odds by a mile, and did it her way the ENTIRE time, for better or worse.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lloyd and Evelyn Tracy; brother, Jim Tracy; son, Michael Kelley; and granddaughter, Sapphire. She is survived by her sons, Chris (Angie) Kelley and Sean Kelley; brother, Don (Mary Ellen) Tracy; and six grandkids.
Donations can be made to the National MS Society, The Jimmie Heuga Scholarship Fund, or any charity that fits her personality.
She will be remembered as a warrior like no other. Hope you and Penny are having a grand ole time!
Memorial Services are pending at this time.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com
