Rowena Kelley

Rowena Kelley passed away peacefully with family by her side at her daughter’s home in Devon, PA on November 20, 2020.

She was born November 28, 1930 and adopted by famous physicians Drs. George & Gladys Dick. As an adopted child, she often suggested that she was REALLY a princess of European descent, however, we weren’t able to verify it through her 23-and-me test! She was raised in Evanston, Illinois, but lived most of her adult life in downtown Chicago, where she was a sought-after interior designer and very active in cultural and civic pursuits. She was married for 37 years to Philip Kelley, to whom she provided loving care when he predeceased her in 1997. Widowed early, she moved forward gracefully, and focused with gratitude on the adventures and blessings ahead of her.

Art in all forms was Rowena’s passion. She studied Art History in college, starting at University of Colorado, however (after indulging in too much fun), her parents insisted she return home, where she graduated from Northwestern University. After college, and a year frolicking in Paris, she worked as an interior designer in Chicago where she met Philip, a furniture salesman at the time who later became the President of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart. While raising their daughters, Claire and Laura, she started her own design business, and shared her superb and eclectic taste with many clients. She served on the boards of The Art Institute, Lyric Opera and Art Resources in Teaching, now Urban Gateways. Rowena & Philip traveled the world and loved collecting art and decorative objects.

Summers were spent in Macatawa, Michigan, where generations of Kelleys gathered on Lake Michigan. She expanded the family cottage as her family grew, as nothing gave her greater pleasure than to fill the cottage with her daughters and their families. Many parties were held on the cottage deck, and she was often referred to as “Queen of the beach” as she strolled the Macatawa sidewalks.

After Philip’s early retirement, Rowena and Philip put their decorative skills together and built a home in Hobe Sound, FL in the community of Loblolly where she spent 28 years escaping the Chicago chill.

In her later years, she was known as RoRo – the grandmother name she selected which suited her perfectly! She was tiny in stature, but her effervescent personality and beautiful smile endeared her to family and many friends. She took Tango lessons in her 70’s, and was practicing her French until recently, with the hopes of returning to France for language emersion school. RoRo has enjoyed gifting some interesting objects to her children and grandchildren. You can imagine the surprise as grandchildren opened gifts that might include brass elephant chains, samurai swords, African masks and sculptured animals.

In an effort to further enrich, and bring cultural experiences to her children & grandchildren, she requested that her ashes be taken to the Yangtze River in China - a classic RoRo idea, but a bit difficult under the current circumstances!

Rowena is survived by her daughters, Claire Hardon (Clay) and Laura Cox; grandchildren Tom Hardon (Donna), Michael Hardon (Ida), Kelley Hardon, Katie Cox and Corey Cox; many nieces and nephews; and her dedicated caregiver and dear friend Alicia Rodriguez.

Rowena lived life with vigor. She was kind, inclusive, thoughtful & generous. In recent months, her body was forcing her to slow down, but her heart was full of energy and zest for life. We are grateful to all who took time to care for Rowena - she felt very blessed and loved.

We hope to celebrate Rowena’s life when it’s safe to do so. Should you wish to make a memorial contribution in Rowena’s memory please consider a gift to Urban Gateways.

Urban Gateways – www.urbangateways.org  1637 Ashland Ave, Suite 1,   Chicago, IL 60622