Rinah Heigh Kelly

October 22, 1930 - February 5, 2022

SAN DIEGO — Rinah (nee Elizabeth) was born in Dearborn, Michigan, on October 22, 1930 to Anna and Alexander Incze, who had immigrated to the United States from Hungary in the early 1920’s. She was the third of four children. The eldest sibling was Alexander, Jr., followed by Mary, then Rinah, and the youngest, Frank. The family moved from Dearborn to Mechanicsburg, Ohio, when Rinah was still young. The family operated a gas station and farm while the kids also attended school. When her older sister Mary moved to Florida, Rinah followed her and lived in Jacksonville and Saint Augustine. Later, Rinah joined her parents and younger brother in a move to Los Angeles, California, where Rinah worked as a telephone operator for Bell Telephone in downtown. It was here that Rinah was introduced to her husband Cecil by a friend at work who arranged a double date in May 1950. The attraction between Cecil and Rinah was strong, and the couple were soon engaged and married in the matter of a few weeks. After marriage, Cecil was stationed at San Diego, where the couple moved in the late 1950’s. The couple finally settled in North Clairemont to raise a family of three kids. The family spent one fascinating year in Hawaii during 1962 and moved back to Clairemont again in 1963 when Cecil retired from the Navy. Subsequent moves were to Oklahoma City for one year and finally to Costa Mesa, California where the kids finally left the nest.

Cecil and Rinah retired in San Marcos and then Cardiff, California, where both ended their full and productive lives within seven months of each other. Rinah was a very loving mother as well as an excellent homemaker and an accomplished seamstress; she also worked jobs as an administrative assistant at Ward and Harrington lumber company in Newport Beach and at the Costa Mesa Municipal Water District.

Rinah is survived by her three children, Margaret, Frank, and David, as well as two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Please sign the Guest Book online obituaries.sandiegouniontribune.com