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A Ronald McNair Elementary School art teacher died Monday of kidney cancer.

Elizabeth "Betsi" Kelly, 40, of Poolesville was diagnosed with the aggressive cancer in October 2008, said Fred Kelly, her husband of six years. She was pregnant with the couple's youngest daughter when diagnosed. The baby was born healthy.

Kelly loved art and worked in a variety of mediums, including oil paint, pencil, metal and ceramics, and showed her work at the Gaithersburg Art Barn and the Rockville Arts Place, where she had a studio, her husband said. Crows were a favorite subject —"I think it was the freedom, the flight," he said.

"She was truly an artistic person and a fantastic mother," Kelly said. "...She loved teaching art, her children loved her there."

The couple were both from New Jersey but met through mutual friends in Bethesda about eight years ago, Fred Kelly said. They have three daughters, Cassidy S. Kelly, Caitlin M. Kelly and Helena L. Kelly.

Born Feb. 25, 1969, in Austin, Texas, Elizabeth Kelly was a daughter of Sheila Eberhardt of New Jersey and the late Joseph Eberhardt. She is survived by three brothers and was preceded in death by a brother and a sister.

"She fought a long battle for 18 months. It's just a tragic story with the three little ones under 5," said McNair Principal Eileen Macfarlane. Kelly began teaching at McNair in fall 2006 and previously taught at Dr. Sally K. Ride Elementary School. "She was an extremely talented artist and loving with the children, she brought out the best in them. We felt very fortunate to have her here."

The Germantown school held a jump rope Jump-A-Thon for Kelly's family in April that raised more than $3,000 and plans to begin a scholarship fund for her children, Macfarlane said.

Kelly described his wife as adventurous, intelligent, spiritual and someone who enjoyed learning about other cultures and "going against the grain to help people and reach out to people. She wasn't afraid to take a stand." She spent a year traveling after getting her master's degree from George Washington University and visited countries including Nepal, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia. A more recent adventure took her to the White House, where she brought the couple's two elder daughters to protest against the Iraq war.

"She wanted to travel the world," Kelly said.

After his wife was diagnosed, Fred Kelly contacted the county health department about conducting a cancer cluster in town because he said it seemed like an unusually high number of people in their neighborhood had battled the disease. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not find evidence of a cancer cluster based on its analysis of cancer rates in town through 2006 in the Maryland Cancer Registry, and the county is completing its report on the study.

A memorial service will be at Our Lady of the Presentation Church, 17230 Tom Fox Ave., in Poolesville at noon on Jan. 16. Hilton Funeral Home in Barnesville handled arrangements.

For more information on the scholarship fund for Kelly's children, contact Cheryl Gendron at chehree@gmail.com