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Page Kelley dies at 72, was longtime Southern prof

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EDITORS’ NOTE: Please substitute the following corrected obituary for the one in Baptist Press 3/14/97

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–Longtime Southern Baptist educator Page Kelley died March 13 in a Louisville, Ky., hospital after suffering a heart attack recently. He was 72.

A native of Hartford, Ala., Kelly was an instructor in Hebrew at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1951-52 and professor of Old Testament interpretation from 1959-92. He taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond after his retirement from Southern.

Kelley authored 10 books, including “Biblical Hebrew: An Introductory Grammar,” used in many seminary classrooms, as well as the Broadman Bible Commentary “Isaiah,” and other commentaries on the Old Testament Books of Amos and Exodus.

Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said, “Dr. Kelley was a distinguished professor of Old Testament interpretation who gave more than 30 years of his life to the teaching of ministers through The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was a genuinely gracious teacher, and a man who shared his passion for understanding Scripture with his students.”

Kelley began his ministry as assistant pastor of Hunter Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Ala., in 1942. He pastored four other churches over the years, including a Baptist church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 1955-59 while he taught at the Baptist seminary there.

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He earned a bachelor of arts from Samford University in Birmingham in 1945 and a B.D. from Southern Seminary in 1948. He returned to earn a Th.D. at Southern in 1953.
Kelley is survived by his wife, Margaret; three daughters, Margaret Ruth, Judith Ann and Mary Page; and five grandchildren.

The funeral was scheduled for March 14 at 10 a.m. at Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville.

“He will be deeply missed by the Southern Seminary family,” Mohler said, “and we are grateful for his years of committed service to this institution.”
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