Expressing Gratitude: The Best Wife in the World

Expressing Gratitude: The Best Wife in the World

 

ActiveRain Ambassador Debe Maxwell has challenged blogger members to post a gratitude post each week of November as we celebrate the season of Thanksgiving.

My greatest blessing is to have the best wife in the world, Dolores Bayersdorfer Kelley. Dolores was from New York and lived in Alaska, Washington, Florida and Virginia until her father retired from the navy in Portsmouth, Virginia. Both of us attended Cradock High School but we were not friends at the time. She went away to school at William and Mary in Williamsburg and later graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk with a degree in art history. I went away to the University of Virginia in Charlotteville where I majored in finance in the School of Commerce before going to Law School at UVA.

After finishing law school, I opened my first real estate office in the Cradock area, my home town. Business was good for me and I had a beautiful apartment in a garden apartment community that my company managed. I was active in the Cradock Lions Club and one of the annual events was to visit another club for an oyster roast. We chartered a bus to attend the event and on the return trip one of the members suggested that I should meet Dolores, who was living next door with her parents.

When we met, Dolores was actually expecting one of my high school classmates who was also named Roy. We overcame that misunderstanding and it did not take very long for us to become engaged on St. Patrick's Day. We were married at the church my family attended in Cradock on June 12, 1965. So, we have been married for over 54 years and I have been a very lucky guy.

Dolores worked in our insurance agency for several years and obtained insurance licenses as well as a real estate license. She became an avid golfer while supporting my business activities. Dolores traveled with me as I attended board of directors meetings and conventions of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, the National Association of Home Builders and the Executive Committee of NAHB and well as meetings of other orgainzations in which I was active. We have been fortunate to be able to travel for our personal pleasure to many other countries.

Dolores accepted a leadership position in a group related to the regional builders associaton as I worked my way through the chairs to eventually become president of the Tidewater Builders Association. Later, Dolores served on the Second District Disclipinary Committe of the Virginia State Bar for many years. She was one of the first women holding one of those positions. 

We moved form Portsmouth, Virginia to the Virginia Beach oceanfront where we lived for 18 years. Dolores continued her golfing at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club and played in many women golfers tournaments in Viginia and North Carolina.

When we moved to Maryland, Dolores became a Docent at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She continued her golfing at the Montgomery Country Club. As I write this post, she is playing card and having lunch with friends at the club.

If you follow my blog posts, you know that Chef Dolores loves to cook and I am using a photograph of her in our home kitchen.

I am very grateful to have a very special lady as my wife for so many years.

 

 

Dahlia, Hollyhill Dragon Fire, American Dahlia Society Show, Longwood Gardens,

Kennett Square, PA USA IMG 5604
Canon PowerShot G11 Camera
Photograph by Roy Kelley
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs

Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs

Roy Kelley and Associates

 

Roy Kelley, Associate Broker

Realty Group Referrals (Retired from RE/MAX Realty Group)

6 Montgomery Village Ave., Suite 200

Gaithersburg, MD 20879

Main Office:  301-258-7757 (You will not reach me at this number)

Send an email message if you need my phone numbers. I will be happy to recommend a real estate professional if you are moving to the area.