The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Maiden Name and Vital Records of Lulah Inez Kelly Denmark (d. 1952)

In Bougainvillea Cemetery in Avon Park, a repaired flat horizontal white slab rests adjacent to the lawn-level granite headstone of longtime Atlantic Coast Line Railroad station agent Clayton A. Denmark (1883–1982).[fg-denmark-marker][fg-lulah-denmark] The slab bears the concise three-line inscription:

LULAH INEZ DENMARK
DIED
1952

While local cemetery surveys have recorded the stone under the married name Lulah Inez Denmark, vital statistics and county civil registries identify her maiden name as Lula Inez Kelly.[fl-marriage-denmark-kelly-1919][familysearch-lula-kelly] Official marriage, census, and mortuary records trace her Alabama origins, her 1919 marriage in the Florida Panhandle, and her three-decade domestic residence in Avon Park.

Marriage in Liberty County (1919)

Clayton A. Denmark entered railroad telegraphy in North Florida after completing high school in Perry in 1904. In September 1911, he married Mattie Williams in Taylor County; that union ended in divorce proceedings concluded in Escambia County Chancery Court in November 1918.

Thirteen months later, Denmark remarried in Northwest Florida. On 21 December 1919, he was united in marriage with Lula Kelly in Bristol, the county seat of Liberty County, situated along the Apalachicola River.[fl-marriage-denmark-kelly-1919] The marriage was formally recorded in the Liberty County marriage register under the names C. A. Denmark and Lula Kelly.[fl-marriage-denmark-kelly-1919]

Alabama Birth and Regional Origins

Federal census schedules document that Lula Inez Kelly was born in Alabama circa 1884–1886.[us-census-1950-denmark][familysearch-lula-kelly] While her specific parental household in Alabama is not identified on her surviving cemetery slab or Florida death index entry, her southern Alabama roots align with the heavy migration of Wiregrass and South Alabama families across the state line into the Florida Panhandle timber, turpentine, and railroad communities during the early twentieth century.

The Avon Park Household on West Pine Street

Following their marriage, Clayton and Lula Inez Denmark established their residence in Central Florida as Clayton served the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. After an assignment in Waverly in eastern Polk County, Denmark was appointed station agent at the Avon Park depot, where the family took up permanent residence.

The 1950 United States Federal Population Census for Highlands County (Enumeration District 28-6, Sheet 12) recorded the Denmark household residing at 1027 West Pine Street in Avon Park (dwelling 133):[us-census-1950-denmark]

  • Clayton A. Denmark, head of household, white male, age 65, married, born in Florida; employed as a passenger agent for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
  • Lula I. Denmark, wife, white female, age 65, married, born in Alabama; keeping house.
  • Patricia A. Denmark, daughter, white female, age 16, never married, born in Florida.
  • Winifred J. Wendt, daughter, white female, age 25, separated, born in Florida; employed as a stenographer at a local citrus canning plant.
  • Margaret A. Wendt, granddaughter, white female, age 4, born in New Jersey.

The census return demonstrates that the couple raised two daughters in Florida:

  1. Winifred J. Denmark (Wendt): Born in Florida circa 1924–1925; married a Mr. Wendt circa 1944–1945, lived in New Jersey where daughter Margaret was born, and returned to Avon Park where she worked in the citrus processing industry by 1950.[us-census-1950-denmark]
  2. Patricia Ann Denmark (Curry): Born on 8 December 1933 in Miami, Florida.[obit-patricia-curry-2012] She grew up in Avon Park, graduated from local schools, and later married Reverend Wayne Alexander Curry (1932–2003), an ordained United Methodist minister, in Orange County, Florida, in 1953.[obit-patricia-curry-2012] Patricia Curry worked as a medical secretary, raised four children (son Mark Elliott and daughters Joan Stewart, Suzy Ross, and Shari Huber), and died in Orlando on 29 December 2012, being interred in Greenwood Cemetery.[obit-patricia-curry-2012]

Death and Burial at Bougainvillea Cemetery

Lula Inez Kelly Denmark died in Highlands County on 10 December 1952 at the age of sixty-seven.[fl-death-index-lulah-denmark-1952] The Florida Department of Health recorded her passing under State Certificate Number 26610 (Volume 1563).[fl-death-index-lulah-denmark-1952]

She was interred in Bougainvillea Cemetery, where her grave was marked with the horizontal slab bearing her given names and death year.[fg-lulah-denmark] Following her death, Clayton A. Denmark lived as a widower in Avon Park for thirty years, surviving into his ninety-ninth year until his death on 29 November 1982.[fg-denmark-marker] He was interred beside her in the family plot, where his modern granite marker was placed.[fg-denmark-marker]

References

  • fl-marriage-denmark-kelly-1919 — Liberty County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Marriage Record of C. A. Denmark and Lula Kelly, 21 December 1919, Bristol, Liberty County, Florida. 21 December 1919. Florida County Marriages, 1830–1993, Liberty County Marriage Register, Bristol, Florida, 21 December 1919
  • us-census-1950-denmark — United States Census Bureau. Clayton A. and Lula I. Denmark Household, 1950 Federal Census, Avon Park, Florida. 12 April 1950. National Archives and Records Administration, 1950 Federal Population Census, Highlands County, Florida, Enumeration District 28-6, Sheet 12, dwelling 133, lines 17–21
  • fl-death-index-lulah-denmark-1952 — Florida Department of Health. Death Record of Lulah Inez Denmark, 10 December 1952, Highlands County, Florida. 10 December 1952. Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, Jacksonville, Florida, Certificate 26610, Volume 1563
  • fg-lulah-denmark — Find a Grave contributors. Lulah Inez Denmark (d. 1952), Bougainvillea Cemetery, Find a Grave memorial 35726077, photographed by Grace Younglove Hudson. 10 April 2009. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35726077/lulah-denmark
  • fg-denmark-marker — Find a Grave contributors. Clayton A. Denmark (18 Dec 1883 - 29 Nov 1982), Bougainvillea Cemetery, Find a Grave memorial 35726262, photographed by Grace Younglove Hudson. 10 April 2009. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35726262/clayton-a-denmark
  • obit-patricia-curry-2012 — Newcomer Funeral Home. Obituary of Patricia Ann Curry (1933–2012), Newcomer Cremations, Funerals & Receptions, Orlando, Florida. 31 December 2012. Newcomer Funeral Home, Orlando, Florida, obituary published December 2012
  • familysearch-lula-kelly — FamilySearch Contributors. Lula Inez Kelly (1886–1952), FamilySearch Person Profile GRZV-W5X. 4 September 2026. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/GRZV-W5X/lula-inez-kelly-1886-1952

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Liberty County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Marriage Record of C. A. Denmark and Lula Kelly, 21 December 1919, Bristol, Liberty County, Florida (Florida County Marriages, 1830–1993, Liberty County Marriage Register, Bristol, Florida, 21 December 1919) (1919) · official
  2. United States Census Bureau, Clayton A. and Lula I. Denmark Household, 1950 Federal Census, Avon Park, Florida (National Archives and Records Administration, 1950 Federal Population Census, Highlands County, Florida, Enumeration District 28-6, Sheet 12, dwelling 133, lines 17–21) (1950) · official
  3. Florida Department of Health, Death Record of Lulah Inez Denmark, 10 December 1952, Highlands County, Florida (Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics, Jacksonville, Florida, Certificate 26610, Volume 1563) (1952) · official
  4. Find a Grave contributors, Lulah Inez Denmark (d. 1952), Bougainvillea Cemetery, Find a Grave memorial 35726077, photographed by Grace Younglove Hudson (2009) · secondary
  5. Find a Grave contributors, Clayton A. Denmark (18 Dec 1883 - 29 Nov 1982), Bougainvillea Cemetery, Find a Grave memorial 35726262, photographed by Grace Younglove Hudson (2009) · secondary
  6. Newcomer Funeral Home, Obituary of Patricia Ann Curry (1933–2012), Newcomer Cremations, Funerals & Receptions, Orlando, Florida (Newcomer Funeral Home, Orlando, Florida, obituary published December 2012) (2012) · secondary
  7. FamilySearch Contributors, Lula Inez Kelly (1886–1952), FamilySearch Person Profile GRZV-W5X (2026) · secondary

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