83-Year-Old Grandmother Remembered by Family as 'Perfect Neighbor' After Dying in the L.A. Fires: 'She Was an Angel'

Mar. 15, 2025

Erliene Kelley.Photo:Go Fund Me

Go Fund Me

An 83-year-old grandmother is being remembered as an “angel” and a “perfect neighbor” after dying amid theongoing wildfires in Los Angeles.

Speaking with theLos Angeles Timeson 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 theLos Angeles Times. She was a retired pharmacy technician at Rite Aid,TheNew York Times reported.

“She was an angel," said neighbor Terry Pyburn. “That’s the perfect neighbor. When you see her, you have a smile.”

Firefighters battling the Palisades fire on Jan. 9, 2025.Anadolu via Getty

Anadolu via Getty

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 theL.A. Times. “She was always watering the grass and buying new furniture and decorations.”

“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 theL.A. Timesof 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, theL.A. Timesreported. 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.

“[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 theL.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.

Click hereto learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

source: people.com