Seguin woman’s fight spurs comunity fund-raiser Oct. 27

SEGUIN — Seguin is invited to rally behind its first lady of law enforcement. Mary Kelso, wife of Seguin Police Chief Kevin Kelso, continues her fight against Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Kelso, who also works for the office of County Clerk Teresa Kiel, will be receiving plenty of community support during a fundraising effort scheduled in her honor. The fundraiser barbecue, auction and dance is scheduled for Saturday Oct. 27 at the Guadalupe County Covered Dance Slab.

Ken Kiel, one of the coordinators for the event, says he couldn’t help but lend a hand in the effort. Kiel says not only does Kelso work for his wife in the county clerk’s office but as chairman of the Guadalupe County Crime Stoppers Program, he has come to know and become friends with Chief Kelso and his family.

"She’s been going through medical treatments and radiation and chemo for the past several months. So she’s been at work and then she has had to take some time off from work -- her vacation days, sick days -- all that was running out because of her medical condition. So a couple of girls in the office, Dalena Krueger and Monica White, as well as some of the other girls had just started the conversation (of the fundraiser) because Mary is going to be going through a bone marrow transplant. The process is going to start Nov. 1 and Mary is going to have to miss work because of that," said Kiel.

Kiel says while the fundraiser effort is obviously to alleviate her family’s financial burden with all the medical bills, it’s also a way to honor Mary for her courage and continued faith to continue on and battle her illness.

"One of the things that has just really impressed me about Mary through all this -- and my wife has shared this with me -- is that Mary is such a trooper. I think the dynamics of all this in the county clerk’s office started at the sort of shocking news that Mary was diagnosed with cancer. She felt fine. There was just a pain in her back. That carried on for a while and then she finally went to a doctor and then that led to the diagnosis. So it was sort of a shock because she wasn’t feeling that bad other than her back was hurting a little bit. It has sort of been an dynamic of when Mary is there, all the girls want to help on Mary’s (work) load. But on the other hand, Mary wants to be treated normal and part of the team and she wants to uphold her end of the workload and she’s asked if she can come in after hours. She wants to do what she can because she loves her job and loves the girls that she works with and so forth," said Kiel.

As for the fundraiser, Kiel says it will be filled with plenty of events. He says the fundraiser gets underway in the afternoon with washer-pitching and plenty of great tasting food.

Tickets for the brisket and sausage plates are $8 each. Tickets are available now at various locations. They include Gift & Gourmet, This, That and the Other, Cascades and at radio station KWED and the Seguin Daily News. A bank account has also been established on behalf of Kelso at First Commercial Bank. Anyone wishing to contribute an auction prize are asked to contact Kiel at 303-4593, Monica White at 305-7397 or Dalena Krueger at 832-1476.