Kelly Denise Robertson Scholarship Fund

Kelly Robertson, of Corpus Christi, TX, wrote the last page of her life's story on October 10, 2022 at the age of 45 after a short, but valiant 2nd battle against breast cancer. Her story began on August 9, 1977 when she was born as Kelly Denise Harrell in Glasgow, KY. Kelly was raised mostly in Louisville, KY, at different times by a combination of people in her life: mother, father, stepmother, and grandparents. She was an exceptional student, incredibly intelligent, and musically gifted. Kelly was a talented flutist, captain of the trivia team, and a beautiful singer. She was the best big sister to two annoying younger siblings in the 80's. She attended Seneca High School in Louisville, KY before marrying at 19 and gave birth to 3 amazing, smart, funny children that are gifts to the world. After struggling with her footings, Kelly truly found her life's calling when she entered nursing school at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in her early 30's. As a Registered Nurse, Kelly was nothing short of amazing. She was calm and collected, compassionate, and tough as nails when the situation warranted - which was frequent. She didn't mince words or sugarcoat the truth, and her patients and coworkers were better for it. She was also insanely funny, sarcastic, and the world's toughest patient. She took her skills to Mexico, where she practiced nursing at a local hospital over the summer and further sharpened her skills in the Spanish language, so she could better meet the needs of her patients. During the pandemic, she took her skills around KY, OH, and GA, finally landing in Corpus Christi, training new ER nurses so they were equipped to not only perform the rigors of the job itself, but how to handle the position. Everyone who worked with Kelly or was taken care of by her was better for it. She argued with doctors, fought for better PPE and hospital support, and was a stickler for nursing the right way, even if current hospital protocol hadn't yet caught up to her standards. As everyone who knew her would attest, she was insanely proud of her children and grandchildren. She wanted to watch them excel in everything they pursued, as she knew they would, since they obviously inherited her High IQ. Her no-nonsense attitude, acceptance of differences, smart mouth, love of all things nerdy, and fight for fairness for the disadvantaged lives on in them. Kelly's family is still grappling with the loss of this mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, friend, niece, and aunt. After years of searching for her truth, Kelly became an atheist, and her family and children are a mix of different faiths - Atheism, Agnosticism, and Christian. She was one of those rare people who could get along with people of any faith or political persuasion, she saw us all for more than just the party we belonged to, or the church we attended. The world needs more people like that, now more than ever. Her energy, as her best friends put so well, "is very much still here... Be comforted in knowing her energy is and will forever remain all around us."

Kelly Denise (Harrell) Robertson was a passionate and dedicated nurse whose life was transformed by entering nursing school. She found her life's calling and her purpose in training the next generation of nursing students. Sadly, cancer cut her life and her mission short, but this scholarship intends to follow through on her goals by helping to fund the next generation of nursing students to follow in her footsteps.