CLEVELAND, Tenn. (BP)–Kelley Shelton, 34, died May 16 after an accident on Tennessee’s Ocoee River May 10. Shelton, of the North American Mission Board’s Mission Service Corps, was participating in an outing of the Tennessee chapter of the Baptist Association of Resort and Leisure Ministries. She was on life support at Bradley Memorial Hospital, Cleveland, Tenn., until it was removed by her family.
Shelton, along with her husband, Jeff, were Southern Baptist volunteers with Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries (SMRM) based in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The couple worked with missionaries Bill and Cindy Black.
The Sheltons, from Kansas City, Kan., served as houseparents for SMRM before deciding to work full time. They had served for two months as SMRM special event ministries coordinators. Because MSC volunteers provide their own funding, Jeff Shelton also worked as a draftsman for a Gatlinburg architect.
Kelley Shelton was a member of the Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union resource team. Formerly she was Women on Mission consultant for the Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Convention. The couple had no children.
At press time, tentative funeral plans included a service at First Baptist Church, Gatlinburg; burial in Gatlinburg; and a memorial service at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Overland Park, Kan., where the Sheltons were members.
