Anthony Kelley

Anthony Lamont Kelley, Sr. was born on December 21, 1968 in Washington, DC to the late Oscar L. Kelley, Sr. and Elnora B. Kelley. He was the youngest of their five children, the baby of the family, but was determined to keep up with his older siblings. He attended St. Thomas Moore Catholic School before transitioning to Frank W. Ballou High School where he graduated in 1986.

From an early age, Anthony was a math whiz. As a child, while grocery shopping with his mother, he would calculate the cost of their grocery items and have an estimate on the bill including tax before they even reached the register. He was a man who, back when people started carrying around tip cards in their wallets at restaurants, would calculate the tip in his head. He’d say, “All you have to do is move the decimal to the left and double the number. That’s your 20% right there.” Although, like his brother Oscar, he’d say it much faster. But, please note, they don’t talk fast; You just listen too slow.

Anthony worked for many years at Grant Park Nursing Home in Northeast DC where he met his ex-wife, Liz. From their union came his firstborn, Anthony Kelley, Jr. Four years later, he (and Linda) welcomed his only daughter, Aiyana Dancy-Roberts. And, four years after that, he (and Trina) ushered in his baby boy, Tyrique Cureton. Yes, they’re all four years apart. Did he plan it? Maybe, remember he was a numbers guy.

Later in life, he worked at the IMF building for a few years before transitioning to work alongside his mother for an attorney, Joanne Sgro. In recent years, he worked odd jobs as his health permitted.

Anyone who knew Anthony knew that he was an avid sports fan, and his favorite team of them all was the Dallas Cowboys. Win or lose, he stuck by them. “How Bout Dem Cowboys?,” he would often say. In addition to the Cowboys, Anthony also loved the Carolina Tarheels basketball team, especially during the Stackhouse/Wallace and Carter/ Jamison eras when they dominated the ACC during March Madness, and he couldn’t be pulled away from the TV screen when Jordan and the Bulls whipped up on everyone during their three-peat era.

Always one to crack a joke or do something silly, we could learn from him to not take ourselves too seriously. It was not uncommon for Anthony, even as a grown man, to flip his eyelids up (yes, to show the pink parts) and call your name so that you’d look in his direction and be grossed out before you’d both burst out laughing. Anthony was a light in this world, and he will be truly missed.

Anthony was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar Kelley, Sr. and Elnora B. Kelley. He leaves to cherish his memory: his children, Anthony Kelley, Jr., Aiyana Dancy-Roberts (Peter), and Tyrique Cureton; his siblings, Angela Robinson, Karen White (Ronald Sr.), Eric Kelley, Sr. (Jamiese), and Oscar Kelley, Jr.; his grandchildren, Anthony (Tre) Kelley, III, Amour Kelley, and Baby Girl Roberts; his nieces and nephews, Tiffany Ashe (Bernard), Ronald White, Jr., Eric Bryant (Lauren), Eric Kelley, Jr., Erica Kelley, Alicia Baggage (Michael), Roderick Tuppince, and Myeshia Gaskins (Frederick) and a host of family and friends.