Dr Mai Hogan Kelton

Dr. Mai Hogan Kelton of Nashville, Tennessee departed this life, January 24, 2026.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Allen Kelton, and parents, Reverend Alexander Rosson Hogan and Rosa Lee Albright Hogan.  Dr. Kelton was born in Dover, Tennessee on January 2, 1929.  She spent her formative years in several locations in Middle Tennessee, where her father was assigned as a Methodist Episcopal minister.  She attended Giles County High School, received and A. A. from Martin Methodist College (now University of Tennessee Southern), a B. A. from Middle Tennessee State Teachers’ College (now Middle Tennessee State University), and an M. A. from George Peabody College for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt University).  She began doctoral studies in music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, later completing her Ed. D. at the University of Alabama.  Her doctoral dissertation was an analysis of curriculum of the Sacred Harp singing tradition.

Her great loves were her family, music, church, and education.  She began her teaching career in 1949, teaching public school music in Holcomb, Missouri and Hartsville, Tennessee, later teaching music and music education at East Central Junior College (Decatur, Mississippi), and Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa).  During the summer of 1955, she sang and accompanied herself at the piano on a daily radio program, “Music for the Fun of It,” broadcast on WKSR, Pulaski, Tennessee. She returned to Tennessee from Iowa in 1958 to be closer to family, teaching music at Peabody College and the Peabody Demonstration School (now the University School of Nashville).

In 1959, she gave up her thriving career in education to marry her beloved Allen and devote herself to her family.  Her children were her pride and joy.  In addition to providing her children with a solid grounding in music, sharing her passion for sacred music and liturgy with others through her work as a part-time church organist and choir director brought her great joy.  She served as organist and choir director in churches of many denominations in Nashville from 1958-1968.  After moving to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1968, where her husband took the position of Head Librarian at the School of Business and Commerce of the University of Alabama, she was a church musician between 1970-2005 in Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, and Greensboro, Alabama.  After returning to Nashville in 2005, she was interim organist in several churches there.  Mai was also an accomplished singer, appearing as alto soloist with several choirs and orchestras in Iowa, Tennessee, and Alabama.

Church activities played a central role in her life.  These ranged from being a delegate at an International Methodist Youth Conference in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1940’s, to serving as Clerk of the Session at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

She was a member of the American Guild of Organists, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the Hymn Society of America, Sigma Alpha Iota, Pi Kappa Lambda, and the National Association of Daughters of the American Colonists. 

She is survived by her children, Mary Katherine Kelton of Indianapolis, Indiana, and John Allen Kelton, of Nashville, Tennessee; grandchildren Ava, Jillian, and Scarlett Kelton; and many nieces and nephews.

Burial will be in the Fall River, Tennessee Cemetery, with a memorial service to be held at a later date.

Pettus-Turnbo Funeral Home is honored and privileged to be handling all final arrangements.