of Mountain View, AR

January 1, 1931 - January 22, 2018

Bess Hart Kelley of Mountain View died Monday, January 22, 2018. She was born January 1, 1931, to Paul and Eva Munsey Hart, at Martel, Tennessee. She was a member of the First Baptist Church.
Bess's young father died when she, the oldest of three daughters, was nine. The family then moved in with her mother's parents, Rev. Samuel Munsey, a Baptist preacher with a penchant for promptness and Mary Levisay Munsey, a hard worker who Bess said, ''Raised everything we ate.'' Mary raised a big garden, kept bees, milked a cow, and raised pigs and chickens.
Bess met Lester at Dixie Lee Baptist Church, where she was church secretary. They were married in 1954. They moved to Mountain View in 1981 from Chattanooga, Tennessee and built their new home at Sunnyland. Lester said he and Bessie had ''found a little bit of heaven in Mountain View.''
Bess was an artist and original member of the Mountain View Art Guild. She sold hundreds of paintings that are now in homes all over the country.
Bess and Lester began performing at the Ozark Folk Center, where they danced and played music, in 1984. Bess loved to sing, especially songs by the original Carter Family. She sang at the Folk Center for 33 years, last appearing on the stage there this past October.
Lester passed away January 28, 2017. Bess is survived by two sisters, Betty Lee and Polly Flynn of Lenoir City, Tennessee, and three nephews, Tony Lee and Kenny and David Flynn.
Funeral services and visitation will be at First Baptist Church, Mountain View, Thursday, January 25, 2018, beginning at 10 a.m. The funeral will begin at 11.
Bess will be buried at Sunnyland Cemetery, not far from the home she and Lester built.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Mountain View Senior Center or the Music Roots Program at Mountain View School.

Pallbearers are Dickie Bishop, Henry Craig, George Spangler, Roy Wallen, Thomas Donahoo, and Lee Hargrove. Honorary pallbears are Ron James, Ron Sapp, Ron Younse, and Dave Brancecum.

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