Kelly Elizabeth Oakley Walker died peacefully March 1st after battling cancer for more than a year. She was 62. Born February 8, 1960, in Lakeland, FL Kelly was the youngest daughter of Central Florida citrus grower, the late Tom Ed Oakley, and Patricia Pruett Oakley.

Growing up in Dade City, Kelly's extravert personality gained her many loving friends. She enjoyed life, always with a smile on her face. She studied several dance styles, as well as piano and clarinet. She was a majorette and a member of the Future Farmers of America at Pasco High School, where she graduated in 1978.

Kelly earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Saint Leo University and then followed one of her passions and enrolled in barber school. She worked at several area salons and helped out at her family's Oakley Funeral Home (now Hodges) and Chapel Hill Gardens.

Kelly left Dade City in 1987, moving to Winter Haven where she married Wade Hampton "Hamp" Walker. The couple of 22 years had two children, Elizabeth and Kyle. Kelly also lived in Delray Beach for 16 years before moving to Austin, Texas, in late 2020 to be close to her 2-year-old granddaughter and 8-month-old grandson.

Kelly had many creative interests, including gardening and flower arranging, making jewelry, and painting. But in recent years being "Nana" was the primary focus of her life. She returned to her native Dade City earlier this year.

Kelly is survived by her children: Elizabeth Victoria Walker Hill and her husband, Zack Hill, of Austin, and Kyle Hampton Walker and his partner, Kritzie Soto, both of Maitland; her grandchildren, Harlow Elizabeth Hill and Oliver Wade Hill; her sister, Ann Oakley Maggard (Dale), of Dade City; and brothers, Thomas "Tommy" Edward Oakley (Lynn), of Winter Haven, and Ronald "Ronnie" Eugene Oakley (fiancee Crista Black), of Dade City. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, as well as her dear aunts, Melinda (Larry) Mishik, of Atlanta, and Judy (Henry) Walls, of Dade City.

Kelly was a Baptist and the Rev. Randy Huckabee, of First Baptist Church of Dade City, will officiate at the service at 2pm Sunday, March 6, 2022, at Hodges Family Funeral Home, 11441 U.S. Hwy 301, Dade City. She will be interred at Chapel Hill Gardens.

Kelly loved flowers and they will be appreciated. Memorial donations can be made to the American Cancer Society, Gulfside Hospice, or the First Baptist church of Dade City.

Hodges Family Funeral Home & Cremation Center