Catherine "Cassie" Kelley (1853-1944)

Photo courtesy of Community of Christ Archives

Community of Christ President Frederick Madison Smith described Cassie Kelley as "one of the finest Saints, a grand woman and mother in Israel." Catherine "Cassie" Kelley served as caretaker of the Kirtland Temple and minister to the community while her husband, E. L. Kelley (seen with her in the photo above), actively traveled as a missionary and bishop for the church. Cassie's various leadership roles and responsibilities expanded with her new homes in Iowa and Missouri. She championed the role of women's ministry as a board member and chair person of the Daughters of Zion, editor of the Mother's Home Column, member of the Patroness Society at Graceland College and the Sanitarium. Her passionate ideas and opinions surfaced in her letters to the Saints' Herald and Autumn Leaves. At the age of ninety-one, Cassie Kelley passed away in Independence, Missouri, on a Tuesday evening, November 21, 1944.