Maury Britton Kelly, 83, passed away April 23, 2022 at his home in Spanish Fort, Alabama, after a long fight with cancer. Britt was born in Cortelyou, a small community in Washington County. After graduating from Leroy High School in 1956, he attended Livingston State College (now the University of West Alabama) which had awarded him a football scholarship. Even as a freshman, he was known as a fierce competitor as a lineman. During the 1959 season he was team captain; sixty years later in September 2019, the UWA Athletic Department honored him during half-time ceremonies for serving as team captain and for his outstanding contribution to the football program. For two years, he and his older brother Jimbo, who was the quarterback, played on the same team.
After receiving his B.S. Degree in 1960, he served as assistant coach and teacher at Robertsdale High School for five years, with the exception of a ten-month tour of active duty with the National Guard during the “Berlin Crisis.” He then served one year as head coach at Excel High School before accepting a position with the Alabama Department of Public Health.
He started his career with the Health Department working with the shellfish sanitation program in Mobile and Baldwin Counties where he monitored the microbial quality of oysters and other shellfish. In 1971, he was granted a leave-of-absence to attend graduate school at the University of Tennessee where he earned a Master’s Degree in Food Technology. The research for his thesis dealt with thermal processing of low-acid foods, especially chocolate drink. Quality control for this product had presented problems for the Health Department. As a result of his research, it was decided that only those processors with properly equipped quality control laboratories would be permitted to operate in Alabama.
After returning from UT, he was assigned the task of developing a program of youth camp sanitation and safety for the State, including the writing of regulations. He subsequently worked for many years as a District Director of Environmental Health for the State Health Department.
Britt was an avid outdoorsman. Although he did a lot of deer hunting as a youth in Washington County, he developed a love for quail hunting after moving to Coffee County. Owning at least one good bird dog and a good horse were considered almost as necessities of life for him. He loved training his dogs, some of which won trophies at field trials for pointers, setters, and Brittany spaniels. He was also an avid fisherman.
Although he spent a great deal of time engaged in outdoor activities, he did not neglect his family. He was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He enjoyed teaching his children how to fish, hunt, and ride horses and participated in all of their sports and other activities. He also loved, and was loved by, many friends from all walks of life.
Over the course of his life, Britt endured a number of health crises, including renal cell carcinoma in 1985 which required removal of one kidney. The cancer later metastasized to his lungs. There being no effective treatment for this kind of cancer at that time. he agreed to participate in a clinical trial involving immunotherapy research at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Immunotherapy is now routinely used in treating certain kinds of cancers. Although he remained cancer free from kidney cancer, he later developed prostate cancer and then pancreatic neuro-endocrine cancer.
Britt was preceded in death by his daughter Lisa Kelly Williams; father and mother, Leonard and Annie Mae Kelly; brother, Jim Kelly; sister, Cheryl Kelly Brown; and son-in-law, Scott Harper.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Thelia Whigham Kelly; son and daughter-in-law, Dr. Patrick and Carolyn Kelly; daughter, Gina Kelly Harper; granddaughters, Scarlett Kelly, Sarah Harper, and Megan Harper; and grandsons, Patrick Britton Kelly, Jr. and Cooper Kelly.
A memorial service was held on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Home located at 27409 U. S. Hwy. 98 in Daphne. The family received visitors at 10 a.m.; the service followed at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a donation to a charity of one’s choice.
