Erma Mattfeld Kelley

Erma Kelley often said she wouldn't be middle-aged until she turned 70 years old. She pushed a lawn mower until she was 85; baked pies and pulled weeds into her 90s. Erma didn't live to age 140, but she gave it a good run. Just shy of her 102nd birthday, Erma joined her high-school sweetheart and husband, Maurice, in everlasting life. Her son, Roger, is there, too, playing his guitar and learning the words to the many songs Erma knew by heart. Erma says goodbye to two surviving children - Richard and Rebecca - plus five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren. Erma grew up in the Brush Prairie/Hockinson area, attending a one-room grade school. She was graduated from Battle Ground High School, where she was a cheerleader and a good-humored trouble maker. Confirmed in the Elim Lutheran Church, Erma raised her family as members of the Battle Ground Community Church, now Battle Ground United Methodist. She and Maury were active in Elks, Rotary Club, and Chamber of Commerce, volunteering where needed. Erma was especially happy to help decorate Rose Parade floats and babysit for young couples during church service. Erma loved those babies. All babies. In her younger years, Erma and the Kelley family were founding and active members of the Clark County Saddle Club. While Maury rode Pony Express or performed precision drills at a full gallop with the Clark County Sheriff's Posse, Erma held her own in the Women's Drill Team on the back of her palomino named Goldie. A family friend who - as a child - saw her ride in a parade, wearing her pink satin cowboy shirt and waving to the crowd, thought she was a movie star. Until her retirement, Erma was a fixture in the Clark County Dairymen Association (Ag-Co) office in Battle Ground. At work, her fingers flew across the rows of a 10-key adding machine while her eyes scanned co-op dividend reports: a human-powered computer. In her 'free time' she tended a vegetable garden and canned jar after jar of the seasonal harvest from the Kelley farm in the Charter Oak neighborhood. Always quick to tease and be teased, Erma's life was well lived and full of love. She is alive in our hearts and in the House of the Lord. PLEASE DO NOT POST THIS OBITUARY ON ANY SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

Erma Mattfeld Kelley

June 14, 1922 - April 26, 2024