LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Barbara Marise Kelly,

age 83, died in her sleep on Nov. 9, 2022 in the Monarch Group Home Hospice in Las Vegas, Nev. She was born on Aug. 20, 1939, to William Pearl Kelly and Virginia Audrey Leach Kelly in San Antonio, Tex., the fourth of six children.

Barbara grew up in Rogers, Ark., where her father, an accomplished artist, owned and operated a neon sign company. Barbara graduated from Rogers High School in 1957, got married, and started a family. During her life, Barbara traveled to Europe, The Caribbean, The Netherlands, Hawaii, and many other states in the U.S. She and her family lived in many places, including Rogers, Ark., Houston, Tex., and Venezuela, South America. Barbara was a lightning fast typist (nearly 100 words per minute) and she used those skills to become a legal secretary. She worked in many private law firms in both Arkansas and Texas. After her divorce, later in her life, Barbara transitioned into a career at Acosta Sales and Marketing in Bentonville, Ark. At Acosta, “Miss Barb” created her own special office culture, where she was known to everyone as the tiny, feisty, witty fashionista who never forgot your birthday or your kids’ names, who brought donuts and sweets to the office for everyone to share, kept fresh coffee brewed in the kitchen, and who was always the biggest source of warmth and compassion, empathy, and humor. She retired in July 2022, at age 82, when she moved to Las Vegas to live with her daughter, Amy, and her family.

Barbara’s love of her work was only surpassed by her true love of spending time with her family. She enjoyed hosting holiday gatherings throughout the year at her quaint little house in Bentonville. It didn’t matter if you were a friend, relative, or a friend of a relative, when you came to Barbara’s house, you were treated royally, as family, never as a guest or an outsider. Barbara preferred to live alone in her home, which she proudly purchased for herself through many years of hard work and perseverance.

When recently asked what was the happiest time of her life, Barb responded, “Living in my little house that was all mine, driving my own car to work, seeing all my friends, getting to talk to, and see my kids and grand kids when I was able to see them. I loved my life.”

Barbara was a patron of the arts who loved classic Hollywood films, music, attending theatrical performances and the ballet. She instilled a love of the arts in all of her children, and they all pursued some aspect of the arts as part of their lives. Barbara was loved by everyone who met her. She was a very tiny person, at only 4-foot-9 inches tall, and 78 pounds, but her personality was huge. She was smart and witty, brutally honest, and real. She loved to laugh and be close to the ones she loved. She will be in our hearts forever and we will never forget her and all that she gave to us.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Dorothy Parker, her brother, Jack Kelly, and her son, Larry Joe “Joey” Beck, Jr.

Barbara is survived by siblings, Marjorie Hensley, Linda Kelly and William “Sonny” Kelly; children, Kelly Beck and her wife, Becca Van Meter and Amy Pruett and her husband, Kris; her grandchildren, Amber Tracy, Amanda Schenkel, Adelyn and Jett Pruett; and her great-grandchildren, Hailey, Sydney, and Journey Schenkel and Zaden Tillotson.