Alta Jean (Foss) Pelkey — devoted wife, caring mother, daughter, and sister — passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 23, 2023. She was 88.

Jean was born in Houghton, New York, and was the daughter of Doris (Moon) Foss and Warren Foss. Active in her local Free Methodist Church from an early age, Jean dreamed of growing up to be a female evangelist. She graduated as salutatorian from Rushford Central School and then attended Houghton College, from which she received a BA in Latin (1955). As a student employee, she worked in the library, typing catalogue cards to help pay for her books. Jean then completed her MS in Education from SUNY Cortland (1960) and later took graduate courses at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.

Between 1964 and 1967, Jean relocated to Kansas City, where she served as Editor of Vacation Bible School curricula at Aldersgate Associates at the Headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene. She also served as an interim pastor for congregations of the Church of the Nazarene in Oswego, New York, and Deepwater, Missouri.

After returning to Syracuse, she met her husband, Lyman Edward Pelkey, whom she married on August 10, 1968, at Syracuse First Church of the Nazarene. They were married for 50 years until Lyman's death in December 2018.

For nearly forty years, Jean was active as an elementary and middle school teacher in Western and Central New York. She taught in public schools in Virgil, Spencerport, Central Square, and Syracuse, and completed her career at Faith Heritage School (1980–1997), also in Syracuse. During her last years at FHS, Jean pioneered a Latin program for middle schoolers.

In addition to teaching, Jean and Lyman worked together in church music ministry for many years, especially at Trinity United Methodist Church in Clay, New York. Jean also became a certified lay speaker in the United Methodist Church. After retiring from teaching (and after Lyman attended seminary), the Pelkeys served in pastoral ministry at Childwold Memorial Presbyterian Church, the Living Waters Parish of the United Methodist Church, and St. Johnsville United Methodist Church, all in Upstate New York.

In later years, Jean and Lyman moved to Perkasie, Pennsylvania, to be near their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters. Jean worked for seven years as the Coordinator of Shared Ministry at St. Andrews Evangelical Lutheran Church in Perkasie, finally retiring at the age of 83. Three years ago, she moved to Nicholasville, Kentucky, to live with her son and daughter-in-law. In the last three years of her life, as a member of Centenary United Methodist Church in Danville, Kentucky, Jean was active in adult Sunday School and card-writing ministries. She was also a constant companion to her grand dog, Ginger.

Jean was an experienced writer and public speaker and loved to tell and listen to stories while building relationships with people of all ages. In her 70s, Jean began blogging, and she enjoyed writing poems that memorialized friends who had passed away. She saw the best in everyone and loved to share her positive observations with others. At the time of her death, Jean was writing a memoir that included a section on family history going back multiple generations before her own birth. She noted in a chapter on her life that, as a trained editor, she was always looking for ways to make her writing clearer and more succinct.

Jean is survived by her daughter, Fortana May Pelkey-Landes (Craig) (Albuquerque, NM); her son, Dr. Stanley C. Pelkey II (Heather) (Nicholasville, KY); her granddaughter Elena (Bobby) Carmen (Santa Fe, Arizona); her grandson, Nathan Edward Pelkey (Trish Marley, girlfriend) (Buffalo, New York); her granddaughter Madison Kay Pelkey (Derek Sunderland, boyfriend) (Buffalo, New York); her granddaughter Corina Pelkey-Landes (Nathan Garratt, boyfriend) (Anchorage, Alaska); her sister, Pauline (David) Buck (Bridgeport, New York); her sister, Judy Foss (Bridgeport, New York); and beloved cousins, nieces and nephews, and cherished friends in New York, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky.

Jean was predeceased by her husband, Lyman, her parents, her elder sister, Alma Foss, and her daughter-in-law, Heidi (Morris) Pelkey. Jean was loved by many; her care for others and gentle sense of humor will be greatly missed.

Visitation to be held April 29, 10:00 to 11:30 AM, with memorial service to follow; Centenary United Methodist Church in Danville, Kentucky.

Contributions (in lieu of flowers) may be made to the United Methodist Church (Route 20, Madison, NY 13042) or St. Andrew's Evangelical Church (20 Dill Avenue, Perkasie, PA 18944).

A guestbook is available at www.wlpruitt.com.