Kelsay Jenell Franklin was born on September 8, 1996, aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California to Calvin and Tammy Franklin.
She accepted Christ at an early age at First Assembly Church in Arlington, VA.
Kelsay was a 2014 graduate of White Station High School in Memphis, TN and a 2019 graduate of University of Tennessee Knoxville. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Memphis on September 19, 2021, and she became a Licensed Master Social Worker on February 15, 2022. After graduating college, Kelsay moved to Virginia Beach, VA where she worked with Therapeutics Intervention Services and Empowerment Counseling Center in Chesapeake, VA.
Kelsay was musically inclined. She played the violin and flute. Kelsay was also a Mount Pisgah cheerleader and went to nationals in Orlando, Florida where she placed second with her team. She was a voracious reader, often reading up to three books at once. Some of her favorites include the Harry Potter and Twilight series and later books by Maya Angelo as she got older.
Kelsay had a way of making you laugh and letting you know when she wasn’t happy. She would make a face and then point to it. She had a way of thinking differently about a situation. Often while riding with her in a car and being stuck in traffic, she would say “They are probably speeding to get to the hospital to have a baby” or “If you are ever mad about someone driving slow in front of you, or getting stuck at every light, ask yourself, what if God is preventing me from being in an accident.”
Kelsay passed peacefully surrounded by family on February 2, 2024
She leaves to cherish her memory: her parents, sister Myla, brother Ajani (Gabriella), a niece (Hazel), a nephew (Keenan), her maternal grandfather Billy Robinson (Amanda), and a host of uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, and her beloved dog “Onyx”.
The family will receive Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 11:00am-11:55am with a Celebration of Life to follow at 12:00 noon at Life Church 1800 N Germantown Pkwy, Cordova, TN 38016
Interment will be in Memphis Memory Gardens 6444 Raleigh Lagrange Rd, Memphis, TN 38134
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Flowers are delivered by the preferred local florist of R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home | Memphis, TN.
For Customer Service please call: 1-888-610-8262
Flowers are delivered by the preferred local florist of R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home | Memphis, TN.
For Customer Service please call: 1-888-610-8262
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