Margaret Vincent Kelley (“Peg”) passed away on July 3, 2022, after a brief illness.
She was born in Boston on June 29, 1933, to Charles Holley Vincent and Kathleen Monica Matthews of Newton and Edgartown.
Peg attended Newton High School and then Regis College. Upon graduation she worked as a nutritionist in both hospitals and school, and was a member of the American Dietetic Association.
Peg was an avid community volunteer, working with the Edgartown Public Library, Meals on Wheels, St. Elizabeth’s Church, and as a docent at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. Peg’s love of the Vineyard is tied to her family’s long roots on the Island. Her great-grandfather, Charles MacReading Vincent, was a Civil War diarist and editor, and proprietor of the Vineyard Gazette from 1867 to 1872. Her seventh great-grandfather, William Vincent, owned the island’s oldest surviving residence, the Vincent House, now a museum.
Peg especially enjoyed welcoming visitors, whether at the library, the museum, or her home. For much of the past 20 years, Peg could be seen in the evening chatting with passersby from her front porch on Upper Main Street. She also enjoyed a number of creative outlets; photography, writing both short stories and poetry, cooking, reading, and her ever-present New York Times crossword puzzle. Peg and Jim shared a love for music, theater, and travel. They visited places in six continents, and they swam in six of the Seven Seas. Still, Peg maintained nothing topped the Vineyard.
She married James Harold Kelley of Watertown in 1956, and moved to Silver Spring, Md. They had six children: Kate Polesovsky (Mark) of Lakewood, Colo., Anne Howard (Mark), Margaux Kelley-Portillo, Elizabeth Kelley (John Sholar), and John Kelley (Mitzi), all of Silver Spring, Md., Bob Kelley (Madelynn) of Yigo, Guam, and Carol Kelley and Claire Kelley, both of whom passed away shortly after their births.
Summer residents for decades, in 1990 Peg and Jim moved to Edgartown full-time. Mr. Kelley passed away in 2002. In 2019, Peg returned to Maryland to reside with her family.
She was predeceased by her older sister, Virginia Rowland. Peg leaves behind 12 grandchildren: Ally Feldman, Alex Polesovsky, Paige Polesovsky, Shannon Wesley, Jim Howard, Alex Kelley-Portillo, Maeve Kelley-Portillo, Annie Sholar, Jenny Sholar, Vince Kelley, Matthias Kelley, and Cameron Kelley; and four great-grandchildren; Sophie Feldman, Quinn Feldman, Felix Polesovsky, and Maria Kelley-Portillo. Peg is survived by her beloved sisters and brothers in-law, and her numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial celebration will be scheduled in the future, and information regarding the same will be provided in the paper when available. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Trustees of Reservations, online at thetrustees.org/support, or to the Edgartown Public Library, 26 West Tisbury Road, Edgartown, MA 02539.
For online guestbook and more information, visit chapmanfuneral.com.
