Carl Ellan Kelley: Life, Family, and the Story of Aretha Franklin’s Half-Sister

Carl Ellan Kelley lived much of her life away from the spotlight, yet her family history connects her to one of the most important names in American music. She was the daughter of Rev. C. L. Franklin and Mildred Jennings and the paternal half-sister of legendary singer Aretha Franklin. Unlike Aretha, Carl Ellan Kelley did not build a public career in entertainment. Her life was shaped by a complicated childhood, a later connection with her father, family relationships, and a strong preference for privacy.

This article examines what is publicly documented about Carl Ellan Kelley, including her birth, parents, upbringing, relationship with the Franklin family, children, career reports, connection to Aretha Franklin’s estate, and death. It also separates better-supported facts from details that remain difficult to verify.

Carl Ellan Kelley Quick Facts

Carl Ellan Kelley was born on November 17, 1940, in Memphis, Tennessee. Her funeral-home obituary identifies her parents as Mildred Jennings and Rev. C. L. Franklin and states that she was raised by her grandmother, Mrs. Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry. The same obituary records her death on January 30, 2019, and says she was 78.

Her most notable family connection was to Aretha Franklin. Because Carl and Aretha shared C. L. Franklin as their father but had different mothers, they were paternal half-sisters. Carl was born before Aretha, who was born in 1942. Public biographies sometimes spell her first name as Carol, but the funeral record uses Carl Ellan Franklin Kelly.

Fact	Details
Full name in funeral record	Carl Ellan Franklin Kelly
Born	November 17, 1940
Birthplace	Memphis, Tennessee
Father	Rev. C. L. Franklin
Mother	Mildred Jennings
Famous relative	Aretha Franklin
Raised by	Grandmother Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry
Died	January 30, 2019
Age reported at death	78
Burial	Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, Seattle, according to funeral records

Early Life and Family Background

Carl Ellan Kelley was born into a family that would eventually become closely associated with Black gospel, soul music, and American cultural history. Her father, Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, better known as C. L. Franklin, was a prominent Baptist minister and influential preacher. He later became pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, where his family life became connected with the future career of Aretha Franklin.

Carl’s childhood was different from that of the children raised in C. L. Franklin’s household with Barbara Siggers Franklin. She was raised by her grandmother rather than growing up alongside Aretha and several of her better-known siblings. Her early circumstances therefore placed her outside the family environment that later became familiar through biographies of Aretha Franklin.

The available record also shows why Carl’s story should be handled with care. Historical accounts describe the circumstances surrounding her birth as involving Mildred Jennings, who was a very young member of C. L. Franklin’s Memphis congregation. These events are part of the documented history of the Franklin family, but they should not be sensationalized or treated as entertainment. Carl was a child born into circumstances she did not choose.

The Circumstances of Carl Ellan Kelley’s Birth

Carl Ellan Kelley was born in Memphis in 1940 while C. L. Franklin was serving as a Baptist minister there. Historical biographies identify Mildred Jennings as her mother. Accounts based on the work of Franklin biographer Nick Salvatore describe Jennings as a very young member of Franklin’s congregation.

This part of Carl’s biography requires particular care because the age difference and religious authority involved make the circumstances deeply troubling by modern standards. A scholarly dissertation on C. L. Franklin’s life also identifies Carl Ellan as his daughter and notes that she was later recognized within the Franklin family.

Rather than allowing this difficult beginning to define her entire identity, it is more useful to place it in context. Carl later lived her own adult life, raised children, and maintained a relationship with members of the Franklin family. Her birth explains an important part of the family history, but it does not tell the whole story of who she was.

Raised by Her Grandmother and Growing Up in Memphis

Carl Ellan Kelley was raised by her grandmother, Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry, according to her published funeral obituary. This is one of the stronger pieces of information available about her childhood because it comes directly from the funeral record rather than from a modern celebrity biography.

Growing up primarily with her grandmother meant that Carl’s childhood was separate from the household that included Aretha Franklin and several of C. L. Franklin’s other children. That separation helps explain why Carl was not a familiar public figure during the years when Aretha’s career was developing.

Later accounts describe Carl as eventually seeking a closer relationship with her father. Some secondary biographies say she contacted him herself while still young and that this helped begin a more direct connection with the Franklin family. These details appear repeatedly in later accounts, although the surviving public record does not provide a complete first-person account from Carl herself. They are therefore best described as reported rather than presented as fully documented fact.

Reconnecting With Her Father, C. L. Franklin

Carl Ellan Kelley did not grow up in the same home as C. L. Franklin, but later accounts indicate that she eventually established contact with him. Some reports describe her writing to her father and later visiting or spending time around him. Other accounts place her in New Orleans for a period before she later lived in Seattle.

The exact timeline is not equally well documented in primary sources. For that reason, it is safer to say that Carl eventually became recognized as C. L. Franklin’s daughter and developed a relationship with him rather than attaching unsupported dates to every stage of their reunion.

That reconnection mattered because it also linked Carl to her paternal half-siblings. Her family connection was no longer simply something recorded in a birth history. It became part of her adult identity and, eventually, part of the public record surrounding the Franklin family.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Relationship With the Franklin Family

Carl’s relationship with the Franklin family appears to have developed gradually. She had a biological connection to the family through C. L. Franklin, but her childhood separation meant that her experience was different from that of siblings raised together. Available accounts suggest that members of the family eventually recognized her as part of the Franklin family.

There is, however, limited reliable information about the private conversations and everyday relationships between Carl and individual family members. Online biographies sometimes fill those gaps with emotional details that are difficult to trace to primary evidence. A responsible account should avoid turning those claims into established facts.

What can be said with confidence is that Carl remained connected to the Franklin family name. Her appearance in discussions of Aretha Franklin’s handwritten estate documents provides additional evidence that she continued to be recognized as Aretha’s paternal half-sister later in life.

Carl Ellan Kelley and Aretha Franklin

Carl Ellan Kelley and Aretha Franklin were paternal half-sisters. They shared C. L. Franklin as their father, while their mothers were different. Aretha’s mother was Barbara Siggers Franklin, while Carl’s mother was Mildred Jennings.

The sisters followed very different paths. Aretha became an internationally celebrated singer, songwriter, pianist, and cultural figure whose career lasted for decades. Carl stayed outside the entertainment industry and generally avoided public attention. Their different lifestyles are an important part of understanding the Franklin family because not every member of a famous family becomes a celebrity.

The public record does not provide enough information to describe the sisters’ private relationship in detail. It is therefore better to avoid claims that they were either extremely close or completely estranged. What is firmly established is their biological relationship and Carl’s recognition as part of Aretha’s family.

Her Other Franklin Siblings

Carl was connected through her father to several other members of the Franklin family. These included Erma Franklin, Carolyn Franklin, Cecil Franklin, and other relatives associated with C. L. Franklin’s family. Aretha became the most internationally famous member, while Erma and Carolyn also developed important careers in music.

Erma Franklin was a singer best known for recording “Piece of My Heart,” while Carolyn Franklin was a songwriter and singer. Cecil Franklin later became involved in ministry and played an important role in Aretha’s professional affairs. These family members demonstrate that the Franklin legacy extended well beyond Aretha alone.

Carl’s path was different. She did not become known for recording music or performing on major stages. Her importance to the family story instead comes from her relationship to C. L. Franklin, her connection to Aretha, and the private family she built during her own adult life.

Career, Adult Life, and Her Preference for Privacy

Reliable public information about Carl Ellan Kelley’s career is limited. Several secondary biographies describe her as having worked as a nurse, while other accounts connect her with Boeing in Seattle. A later tribute reportedly linked her to a career at Boeing, but there is not enough easily accessible primary employment documentation to present every career detail as certain.

This uncertainty is important for anyone researching Carl Ellan Kelley online. Celebrity biography sites often repeat details from one another, which can make an unverified claim appear established simply because it appears on many pages. Her profession should therefore be described cautiously.

What is much clearer is her preference for privacy. Unlike Aretha, Carl did not spend her life performing for audiences, giving frequent interviews, or building a public entertainment profile. Her relative privacy means that some ordinary details about her adult life are simply unavailable, and that absence should not be filled with guesses.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Children and Family Life

Carl Ellan Kelley became a mother and built a family away from the public spotlight. Her funeral obituary identifies three children: Herman E. Wheatley III, Charles G. Smith, and Vivian Smith. The obituary notes that Vivian had died before Carl. It also names several grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The same record identifies grandchildren including Alyssa, Rayden, Amaria, Herman IV, Justin, Tevin, and Detric, along with a great-grandchild named Ariya. These details provide a rare glimpse into Carl’s life beyond her famous relatives.

Information about her marriage or spouse is much less certain. Some online biographies offer additional claims, but those details are not consistently supported by strong records. Since Carl lived privately, it is more accurate to focus on the family relationships documented in her obituary rather than speculate about aspects of her personal life.

Carl Ellan Kelley in Aretha Franklin’s Will

One of the most discussed links between Carl and Aretha Franklin emerged after Aretha’s death in 2018. Handwritten estate documents were discovered, leading to a legal dispute over which document represented her valid wishes. Reports about a 2014 handwritten will stated that Aretha included a $50,000 provision for Carl Ellan Kelley.

The detail should be presented carefully. The existence of competing handwritten estate documents became part of a larger probate dispute, and the reported $50,000 provision comes from accounts of the 2014 document. It is therefore more precise to call it a reported bequest rather than use it to make claims about Carl’s total wealth or finances.

Still, the reference is historically significant. It shows that Carl was specifically named in one of Aretha’s estate documents. Carl died in January 2019, only a few months after Aretha, so the estate story became one of the final public connections between the two half-sisters.

Death, Funeral, and Burial

Carl Ellan Kelley died on January 30, 2019. Her funeral-home obituary records her birth date as November 17, 1940, and her age as 78. That places her death only months after Aretha Franklin died in August 2018.

Her funeral services were held at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery in Memphis. The published obituary states that she was to be laid to rest at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle, Washington. Because some online pages provide conflicting burial information, the funeral-home record is the more appropriate source to cite when discussing her final resting place.

The obituary also records her surviving children and grandchildren. Notably, it does not provide a confirmed cause of death. Some websites have repeated causes of death, but those claims should not be treated as established unless supported by a reliable primary record.

Conclusion: Carl Ellan Kelley’s Place in the Franklin Legacy

Carl Ellan Kelley occupies a quieter but important place in the history of the Franklin family. Born in Memphis in 1940 to C. L. Franklin and Mildred Jennings, she grew up largely under the care of her grandmother and later became recognized as the paternal half-sister of Aretha Franklin.

Her life was very different from Aretha’s public career. Carl remained largely private, raised children of her own, and stayed outside the entertainment spotlight. Reports about her work vary, so those details deserve cautious treatment. Her appearance in a reported 2014 handwritten will also provides an important glimpse into her place within Aretha’s family.

Ultimately, Carl Ellan Kelley should not be remembered only as “Aretha Franklin’s half-sister.” She was an individual with her own childhood, family, work, and later years. Her story adds another human dimension to the larger Franklin legacy.

Frequently Asked Questions About Carl Ellan Kelley

Who were Carl Ellan Kelley’s parents?

Carl Ellan Kelley’s parents were Rev. C. L. Franklin and Mildred Jennings. Her funeral obituary confirms both names and states that she was raised by her grandmother, Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry.

How was Carl Ellan Kelley related to Aretha Franklin?

Carl Ellan Kelley was Aretha Franklin’s paternal half-sister. They shared the same father, Rev. C. L. Franklin, but had different mothers.

What did Carl Ellan Kelley do for a living?

Public career information is limited. Several secondary sources describe her as a nurse, while other accounts connect her to Boeing in Seattle. These occupational details are not equally well documented, so they should be treated as reported information rather than certain fact.

Did Carl Ellan Kelley have children?

Yes. Her funeral obituary names Herman E. Wheatley III and Charles G. Smith as surviving children and Vivian Smith as a daughter who had died before her. The obituary also lists several grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

When did Carl Ellan Kelley die and where was she buried?

Carl Ellan Kelley died on January 30, 2019, at the age of 78 according to her funeral record. The obituary states that she was to be laid to rest at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.