Individual Details

Bobbye Jean Bean

(24 Jan 1929 - 24 Jul 1964)

Bobbye Jean (Bean) Kelley was born on January 24, 1929 in Breckenridge, Texas to Robert and Bernice Bean. She grew up along with her older sister Billie Jo in Breckenridge and attended Breckenridge High School. She was married to Albert "Jiggs" Kelley (the brother of her best friend, Helen Kelley) in Cisco, Texas, 1946. They met after Jiggs returned home from the war and eloped in 1946. She was 17 at the time. They were able to share 18 short years of marriage together. She was very athletic and loved the outdoors while growing up and also as an adult as was demonstrated by her time spent with her family camping at the lake. One of her favorite hobbies was going on boat rides, and she loved to water ski. She enjoyed traveling to Colorado to visit family and take in the beauty of the state. She was an accomplished self-taught artist who focused on painting wildlife and landscape scenes. Many of her paintings carry on her legacy and continue to bring joy to family members as they are displayed in their homes. She died young, at age 35, after losing a 3-year battle to breast cancer. But she was a fighter - never giving up - as was seen in her earlier courageous victory over polio as well as waterskiing on her favorite lake, Possum Kingdom, just two months prior to her death. After many trips and treatments to M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston,Texas, she lost her battle with cancer on July 24, 1964 at Bethania Hospital in Wichita Falls,Texas. Besides her husband, Jiggs, she was survived at the time by her two sons, Joe Wayne Kelley, 13, and Ronnie Mike Kelley, 5, of Wichita Falls, Texas, her parents, Robert and Bernice Bean of Breckenridge, Texas and her sister, Billie Jo Berry of Abilene, Texas. Parents: Robert Stephen Bean (1889 - 1975) Willie Bernice Williams Bean (1898 - 1969)

Events

Birth24 Jan 1929Breckenridge, Stephens County, Texas
Marriage1946Albert Gardner "Jiggs" Kelley
Death24 Jul 1964Wichita Falls, Wichita County, Texas
BurialBreckenridge Cemetery, Stephens County, Texas

Families

SpouseAlbert Gardner "Jiggs" Kelley (1923 - 2009)
ChildLiving
ChildLiving
FatherRobert Stephen Bean (1889 - 1975)
MotherWillie Bernice Williams (1898 - 1969)

Endnotes