Dora Nettie Kelly b. 9 Feb 1878 Linden, Iowa, Wisconsin, USA d. 14 Feb 1954 Madison, Dane, Wisconsin, USA: Our Family History

Our Family History

1878 - 1954 (76 years)

Personal Information | Notes | Sources | All | PDF

Name	Dora Nettie Kelly [1]
Birth	9 Feb 1878	Linden, Iowa, Wisconsin, USA
Gender	Female
Death	14 Feb 1954	Madison, Dane, Wisconsin, USA
Burial	Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States of America
Person ID	I8973	Branches and Roots
Last Modified	13 Feb 2026

Father	Thomas Kelly, b. 31 Mar 1828, Lonan, Garff, Isle of Man d. 18 Nov 1896, Linden, Iowa, Wisconsin, USA (Age 68 years)
Relationship	natural
Mother	Louisa Jewell, b. 10 Dec 1836, Boscastle, Cornwall, England d. 4 Sep 1916, Linden, Iowa, Wisconsin, USA (Age 79 years)
Relationship	natural
Marriage	18 May 1859	Linden, Iowa, Wisconsin, USA
Family ID	F3264	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family 1 James Leroy Reese, b. 1879, Wisconsin, USA d. 1959 (Age 80 years)

Children

	1. Roy Reese [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
+	2. Harold Reese, b. 1 Dec 1907, Linden, Iowa, Wisconsin, USA d. 23 Aug 1968, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (Age 60 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
>	3. Arthur Leroy Reese, b. 13 Aug 1910, Wisconsin, USA d. 1 Oct 1990 (Age 80 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
>	4. Dorothy Elizabeth Reese, b. 15 Jul 1912, Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States of America d. 13 Sep 1998, Sheboygan, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States of America (Age 86 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	5. Willard Reese, b. 23 Mar 1914, Wisconsin, USA d. 2 Aug 2009, Madison, Dane, Wisconsin, USA (Age 95 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
+	6. Louise Reese, b. 27 Apr 1916, Mineral Point, Iowa, Wisconsin d. 17 Apr 1983, Kenosha, Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA (Age 66 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
>	7. Eleanor Reese, b. 28 Nov 1918, Mineral Point, Iowa, Wisconsin d. 15 May 2003, California, USA (Age 84 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]
	8. Emma Mae Reese, b. 1 Feb 1921, Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States of America d. 14 Mar 2012, Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (Age 91 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]

Family ID F3275 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 13 Feb 2026

Family 2
Marriage	13 Oct 1906	Iowa, Wisconsin, USA
Family ID	F3276	Group Sheet \| Family Chart
Last Modified	13 Feb 2026

Notes

DORA KELLY REESE was born and raised on the farm where she later spent most of her marriage life - the Kelly farm which she and her husband bought when they were married. When she was young she traveled by bicycle and took music lessons for the piano and later taught piano. She liked to skate during the winter on the pond that was maintained at that time on the farm. She was the organist at the Laxey Church as long as it was functioning and often substituted at the Bloomfield Church. She believed in keeping good time and you would say she played with "authority". The writer remembers vividly her playing the fifth Nocturne, Listen to the Mocking Bird, and other selections from the Etude magazine. She apparently had rheumatic fever when she was young which damaged her heart valves. She had many happy years living in Madison, Wisconsin, - but while there had to go to the hospital quite often for treatment, getting rid of the fluid in her lungs because of her heart problem. She always enjoyed traveling, and especially enjoyed two trips to the western part of the United States with Eleanor and George. She also enjoyed two trips to Maryland and Washington, D.C.

from Leroy Reese

-

JAMES LEROY REESE or Roy as he was called, lost his mother when his sister Mae was born. He lived with his father on the farm in Willow Springs Township, Lafayette County, graduating from the rural school where his mother had taught before her marriage. He stayed on the farm until age 21 when he started high school in Mineral Point. He was encouraged by his Grandmother Mary Watkins Reese James, was a strong believer in a good education. He went to the University of Wisconsin college of agriculture where he graduated from the Short Course. He was a herdsman and milkman for the Meeker Farm in Lake Forest, Illinois, before his marriage. When they moved to Madison, after retiring from farming. he worked at the University of Wisconsin, first at the College of Agriculture, then on the Buildings and Grounds crew of the University. He took great interest in color photography at Madison and had many slides of wonderful views around the campus, also some seasonal photographs. He tried after having a stroke in April, 1958.
DORA KELLY REESE was born and raised on the farm where she later spent most of her marriage life - the Kelly farm which she and her husband bought when they were married. When she was young she traveled by bicycle and took music lessons for the piano and later taught piano. She liked to skate during the winter on the pond that was maintained at that time on the farm. She was the organist at the Laxey Church as long as it was functioning and often substituted at the Bloomfield Church. She believed in keeping good time and you would say she played with "authority". The writer remembers vividly her playing the fifth Nocturne, Listen to the Mocking Bird, and other selections from the Etude magazine. She apparently had rheumatic fever when she was young which damaged her heart valves. She had many happy years living in Madison, Wisconsin, - but while there had to go to the hospital quite often for treatment, getting rid of the fluid in her lungs because of her heart problem. She always enjoyed traveling, and especially enjoyed two trips to the western part of the United States with Eleanor and George. She also enjoyed two trips to Maryland and Washington, D.C.

from Leroy Reese

-

JAMES LEROY REESE or Roy as he was called, lost his mother when his sister Mae was born. He lived with his father on the farm in Willow Springs Township, Lafayette County, graduating from the rural school where his mother had taught before her marriage. He stayed on the farm until age 21 when he started high school in Mineral Point. He was encouraged by his Grandmother Mary Watkins Reese James, was a strong believer in a good education. He went to the University of Wisconsin college of agriculture where he graduated from the Short Course. He was a herdsman and milkman for the Meeker Farm in Lake Forest, Illinois, before his marriage. When they moved to Madison, after retiring from farming. he worked at the University of Wisconsin, first at the College of Agriculture, then on the Buildings and Grounds crew of the University. He took great interest in color photography at Madison and had many slides of wonderful views around the campus, also some seasonal photographs. He tried after having a stroke in April, 1958.

Sources

[S242] Staff, Unknown Publication: Obituaries, (Name: Unknown; Location: Unknown;), Upright, Louise M. (Reese).
Louise M. Upright

Mrs. Herbert (Louise M.) Upright, 66, died early Sunday morning (April 17, 1983 at Kenosha Memorial Hospital.

The daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Roy (Dora Kelly) Reese, she was born on April 27, 1916 in Mineral Point.

She attended schools in Mineral Point and later graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She came to Kenosha in 1950.

On April 27, 1941, in Madison, she married Herbert Upright.

A home economic teacher at Gateway Technical Institute for five years, she also taught at Bradford High School since 1959 on a part-time basis and full-time since 1965. She retired on January 17, 1978.

She was a member of Holy Nativity Lutheran Church.

Surviving are her husband; two sons, Scott W., Washington, D.C., and Michael P., Mount Clemens, Mich.; two brothers, Roy, Concord, Calif., and Willard, Madison; three sisters, Mrs. Vernon (Dorothy) Hendrickson, Balsam Lake, Mrs. George (Eleanor) Briggs, LaFayette, Calif., and Miss Mae Reese, Milwaukee, and two grandsons.

She was preceded in death by a bother, Herold.

Unknown Publication
HFA: 11OCT2023