There she stood, ramrod straight and tall at the front of the classroom. Her smile, constant. Her commitment to each student, absolute. That's how legions of students fondly remember "Miss Kellam" from her many years teaching at Carrie E. Gould School. Later, as principal of both Penn Avenue Elementary and Gould School, Miss Kellam was strict but fair, firm but kind. Always smiling. But now, the final bell has rung for Miss Kellam. To us, her family, she was simply "Mama." At the Oaks in Pooler, Monday morning, Maner Patterson Kellam, Mama, slipped away quietly in her sleep. Born Jenny Maner Patterson on 25 August 1927 in Wrens, GA, she would soon move with her family to Monteith, in northwest Chatham County, to a homeplace now situated in Port Wentworth. She was the eldest girl of six children - three boys and three girls, Mama and the twins.
With her faithful family, Mama became a charter member of Chapel in the Gardens Presbyterian Church in 1935. She remained an active member there till the ravages of age kept her home. Studies were serious business in the Patterson house. Mama was one of five of the children who would graduate college. Her undergraduate degree was from Erskine College, with a
masters and more in educational administration, from Georgia Southern College. Home from college, a chance meeting at a church party brought her the love of her life, Charles "Chuck" Kellam, then a Virginia soldier stationed in Savannah. Theirs was a model marriage spanning seventy years. To them were born three children Charles, Jr. or Charlie (Vicki) of New York City, Patricia, better known as "Tricia" Thomas, and Margaret Dixon (Sonny). Charlie was born while they lived a
short while in Virginia. The girls are natives and lifelong residents of Savannah. Daddy went to his heavenly home near Christmas 2020. Mama was the last of her siblings to do the same. (Jim, Palmer, Bill, and the twins, Margaret and Florence)
Survivors include all three children and families. Also, the light of their lives, grandchildren Emily Dixon and Richard Thomas, and the vivacious great grand, Meredith Grace Ethridge of Rincon. The love showered on these kids was abundant, matchless.
"Miss Kellam" was an active member of her sorority of educational professionals, Alpha Delta Kappa. In retirement, she read voraciously and traveled the globe with Daddy. She could rattle off family history precisely. Among the notables of whom she was particularly proud, her grandfather, James Henry Rice, Jr. who was South Carolina Superintendent of Education and pressed to run for Governor, those prospects dashed when he proposed free schools for the children of former slaves. She had a well-known uncle, Carew Rice, renowned as a Lowountry artist, his works produced with scissors cutting intricate silhouettes and shapes in black paper. But, nothing got in the way of her lavishing those ample teaching skills on the grands and great
grand, each with uniquely focused guidance and unconditional love and devotion. Like the rest of us, they've experienced restaurant meals, frequently interrupted by one or more of the thousands of students before whom she'd stood erect ("The standing position is the teaching position!"), shaping their knowledge, character, and futures.  They'd stop by our table, each excitedly beginning by uttering those words that once echoed through classrooms, hallways, and the Principal's office..."Miss Kellam!"  "Miss Kellam" - Mama - Maner P. Kellam was 95.  We're going to gather with family and friend around Mama's grave on Saturday, November 19, 2022 at 10 a.m. at Hillcrest Abbey West Cemetery located at 1336 Dean Forest Road in Garden City.

Thomas C. Strickland & Sons Funeral Homes - WEST CHATHAM CHAPEL (912) 748-2444