Meghan Brenda Kelly-Dolden Ended her courageous battle with cancer on Monday, June 23 at her home in Novato, CA, surrounded by her husband, her mother, her sister and her dearest friends. Meghan Brenda Kelly was born on August 4, 1971 in Red Bank, NJ, the daughter of Tom and Bea Kelly.

Following graduation from St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, NJ, in 1989, Meghan graduated from Ithaca College, majoring in communications and English. It was in upstate New York that Meghan developed her love of snowboarding. During her junior year at Ithaca, Meghan spent a year abroad at Leonardo da Vinci University in Florence, Italy. She traveled extensively throughout Europe at the completion of her studies and had the opportunity to enjoy the real Italy by virtue of her father working in the country. After her studies and travel, Meghan moved to San Francisco and worked her way through a variety of positions in radio and advertising. In the midst of the dot com bust, she successfully started her own production company, MK Ultra Productions. Through MK Ultra, Meghan was able to travel and work with an amazing variety of photographers, crew, vendors and locals. She would physically pinch herself every morning to make sure she was not dreaming, always relishing her good fortune to be engaged in an occupation that she enjoyed so much. It was also in California that Meghan met and married the love of her life, her soul mate, Stephen Dolden, fellow surfer, kindhearted gentleman, raconteur, and lover of life.

Meghan was also an accomplished musician on the piano and was taking up the guitar as her health declined. Her great passion besides music, snowboarding, and painting was surfing. As a relatively novice surfer, Meghan traveled to far flung Pacific Islands, Europe, Africa, Mexico and knew every nook, cove and surf spot between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was through the sport of surfing that she developed a great appreciation of both the peacefulness and ferocity of the sea. She remarked that she was crazy to have let her husband convince her it was safe to paddle her surfboard out into the waves of Angelet, France during a lightning storm. Yet, after she survived the experience, Meghan remarked that through the fear she had never felt closer to the raw power of nature. On the flip side, Meghan would look forward with anticipation to her yearly camping trip to Central Baja, a place she would call the most tranquil on earth.

Meghan is survived by her husband, Steve Dolden; parents, Tom and Bea Kelly of Colts Neck, NJ; 96 year old grandmother, Anna Sokoloski of Lincroft, NJ; two sisters: Nicole Kelly of Coventry, RI; Dr. Camilla Kelly of Barre, VT; brother, Dr. Sean Kelly, and his wife Anna-Therese Kelly of West Greenwich, RI; nephew, Liam Kelly; and nieces, Grace, Caroline and Sophia Kelly, all of West Greenwich, RI. Meghan also leaves behind her beloved dog, Occy, rescued from the pound.