83-Year-Old Grandmother Remembered as 'Perfect Neighbor' After Dying in the L.A. Fires: 'She Was an Angel'
"It’s such a heavy feeling," said Erliene Kelley's granddaughter
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Erliene KelleyErliene Kelley died amid the Los Angeles wildfires, according to loved ones
Kelley, 83, was a grandmother, former pharmacy technician and the "perfect neighbor" who told her family "she was going to stay at home" in Altadena when fires broke out on Jan. 7
Her granddaughter, who lived with Kelley, has since launched a GoFundMe fundraiser following the loss of their home
An 83-year-old grandmother is being remembered as an "angel" and a "perfect neighbor" after dying amid the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles.
Erliene Kelley died in her Altadena home this week, according to a GoFundMe campaign created by her granddaughter and The New York Times.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times on Friday, Jan. 10, Kelley's granddaughter, Briana Navarro, said that Kelley was "adamant about staying" in her home as the fire in Eaton began to spread Tuesday night, Jan. 7.
A longtime resident of the neighborhood, Kelley moved into the neighborhood from Monmouth, Ill. in the late 1960s with her late husband Howard, according to the Los Angeles Times. She was a retired pharmacy technician at Rite Aid, The New York Times reported.
“She was an angel," said neighbor Terry Pyburn. "That’s the perfect neighbor. When you see her, you have a smile.”
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Firefighters battling the Palisades fire on Jan. 9, 2025Related: Celebrities Who Have Lost Homes or Had to Evacuate in the Los Angeles Fires, and What They've Said
Navarro said that her grandmother — who she lived with in the home along with her own two daughters and husband Fermin — knew "everybody in the city," was "really sweet" and would stop multiple times to talk with people whenever they'd go out together.
“She loved taking care of her garden,” her granddaughter told the L.A. Times. “She was always watering the grass and buying new furniture and decorations.”
After spotting that a blaze erupted in Eaton Canyon on Tuesday night, Navarro evacuated her family's home by 9 p.m. local time.
"We made the choice to evacuate on Tuesday night, however my grandmother decided she wanted to stay," she wrote in the GoFundMe. "After we left, I asked my dad to go to the house to check on her.. and again, she said she was going to stay at home. She said 'It's in God's hands.' "
“He went up there, talked to her for a little bit,” Navarro told the L.A. Times of her father. “I guess my dad had gone outside and stared at the fire for 10 to 15 minutes and saw that it looked small and felt safe leaving my grandmother there.”
Navarro got her last text from her grandmother around 1:22 a.m. when she wrote that she was "in the living room looking out" and would take a photo of the fire, the L.A. Times reported. Navarro's response text then went undelivered, and when she woke up after spending the night listening to police scanners and checking social media, she encouraged her father to go check on Kelley.
Navarro's father then discovered that Kelley's home had been destroyed by the time he arrived, she told the paper.
“[There] was literally nothing left,” she said. “The only reason he [recognized] our house is because we had an old car in the front — a blue 88 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.”
According to the L.A. Times, Kelley texted her son that she was going to be evacuated at 3:30 a.m. so Navarro assumed "she might have left" and been staying with a friend. The granddaughter then contacted local shelters and family, who had no information. The family eventually spotted a post on X about a person "trapped" inside the home.
“[My mother] just broke down, she knew that my grandma most likely didn’t make it out,” Navarro said. “And that kind of confirmed it for me as well.”
She added, “It’s such a heavy feeling. In hindsight, all we keep thinking is, what could I have done differently?”
As of Thursday, Jan. 9, there have been at least 10 fire-related fatalities so far, according to the L.A. County medical examiner.
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