Lou Kelly, 94, died peacefully in her sleep at 2:00 a.m. on Monday, February 10, 2014, in her home in Iowa City, IA.

Visitation will be held Friday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. at Lensing Funeral Service in Iowa City. The funeral service will begin at 1:00 p.m. A private family burial will follow at Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City. After the burial, all are invited to a gathering at 6:00 p.m. at the Bread Garden Market on the pedestrian mall in downtown Iowa City (225 S. Linn Street, Iowa City). Please contact Lensing Funeral Home for more information.

Lou Kelly, Professor Emeritus, University of Iowa, was born and raised in the Deep South. Although she lived in Iowa since 1963, she always said, “I live in Iowa, but I’m from Louisiana.” Lou Kelly worked in the English Department’s Rhetoric Program, and is renowned for creating a new kind of Writing Lab, an open classroom where students learned how to express themselves in writing by “talking on paper.” Her textbook, from dialogue to discourse: an open approach, broke new ground. She guided the work of many graduate student Teaching Assistants. In 2010, a group of former TAs came together for “Voices From the Writing Lab: A Celebration with Lou Kelly.” A book by the same name, about Lou Kelly’s impact on their work and lives, and even more importantly, her impact on thousands of students, is available by order from lulu.com.

Survivors include her children, Melyssa Jo Kelly of San Francisco, Burgess R. Kelly and his wife Marcia of Iowa City, and Kate Lee and her husband Michael of Cupertino, California; her grandchildren, David, Victoria, and Diana Lee of Cupertino, California; Sam Kelly and his wife Brittany and daughter Eleanor of Austin, Texas; and generations of her nieces and nephews.

Condolences may be sent to the family at 36 Prospect Place, Iowa City, IA 52246; or online at www.lensingfuneral.com.