The Deatherage Family Mourns the Passing of Kelly Loughlin | Eastern North Carolina Now

Born - March 27, 1959; Died - September 12, 2016

    Early on the morning of September 12, 2016, the ravage of cancer upon the corporal person of our loving friend Kelly Loughlin is dead, but the ebullient spirit of Kelly Loughlin lives, and will thrive in a better place, a place we should all aspire to visit and remain. I pray that we all meet again in that hallowed place, where the lightness of being will replace the unrelenting heaviness of pain and suffering that befalls all too often, the best of us.

    Friend, wife, and mother, Kelly was among the best of us, and her short time on this earth was such that she left an indelible impression upon all that really knew her, and all that were fortunate enough to love her. Kelly was a gentle spirit, kind and good, who loved her family and mine. Her addition to the extended Deatherage family took form when her devoted son, Neil Loughlin, married my second oldest daughter, Meredith.

    Once our children married, a union existed between our two families that grew stronger as our children's bond became even more resolute in its impenetrable strength. Eventually, a few short months later, our children left the constant congestion of Greensboro, and returned to Washington, NC, where they have now made their home. Kelly and the love of her life, Bob Loughlin, visited regularly, with our young married couple, and with us. In this way, we were fortunate to know Bob and Kelly; to know that they, too, were committed to my child's well-being, as I was committed to the well-being of their child. What a fabulous trade off.

Kelly and Bob Loughlin in Duck, NC in May of 2015: Below.   photo by Lynn Deatherage    Kelly had just begun her Chemotherapy months earlier, and her prognosis was optimistic at that time.
    Now the predominate component of that co-dependent relationship has left us for that place where God's good children find spiritual refreshment. In my mind, within the grand question of life's triumph over death, I envision Kelly cheering us on to be square, decent folks, who love the Lord and emulate what is best within most of us in our own imperfect way. In that human endeavor, we may find that grace to join her, as we wait for that resurrection, where good triumphs over evil, as it is ultimately vanquished, and we all walk this wonderful Earth, devoid of pain and the suffering of body and spirit; only enlightenment and beauty, drawn deep within the bosom of our Lord and Saviour.