Doris Henderson Kelso, 87, of Florence, Alabama died Thursday, March 3, 2011 at Mitchell-Hollingsworth. She was a University of North Alabama English Professor Emerita, the widow of Thurman M. Kelso, and a Trustee and Historian of the First Presbyterian Church, Florence.
A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Dr. Richard T. Gillespie will officiate. Visitation will be held in the church library from 1:00 p.m. until service time. Interment will follow the service in the church columbarium.
Mrs. Kelso was born in Texarkana, Texas on January 4, 1924 to J.C. and Beatrice Westmoreland Henderson. She was a graduate of the University of Missouri with a Baccalaureate and Masters degree in Journalism. She married Thurman M. Kelso of Clovis, New Mexico on April 5, 1947 in Columbia, Missouri. Mr. Kelso was a Chemical Engineer at TVA from 1947 until his death in 1978. She joined the faculty of the University of North Alabama (then Florence State Teachers College) in 1947, teaching English and Journalism. In 1948 she was named Director of the News Bureau, advisor to the Flor-Ala, and the Diorama which she founded. She returned as Associate Professor of English (1963) after a decade of hiatus to raise her son, Eric. She was named Director of Publications (1973) and finally (1983) Director of Information Services and Publications until her retirement in 1984. Under her guidance the Flor-Ala, Diorama and Lights and Shadows (a literary/art magazine) won numerous honors from the Associated Collegiate Press and the Society of Collegiate Journalists. She authored three books; A History of the First Presbyterian Church, Florence, Alabama (1968), Blessing in Stained Glass (1993), and Christian Witness (1995). She remained active in retirement and volunteered at Safeplace for many years.
She is survived by a son Eric and his wife Robin of Rogersville; grandsons Casey and Gabriel Fierstine and great-grandson Gryphon. She is also survived by a niece Mary Ann Johnson, Dallas, Texas, and a nephew Harold Wickham, Jr. of Las Vegas, Nevada. She was preceded in death by sisters Joleyn Henderson and Mary Ann Wickham.
Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church or the John C. Martin Scholarship Fund, UNA.