Celebrity

Who Was Carl Ellan Kelley? Real Story Of Aretha Franklin’s Sister

September 17, 2026

Carl Ellan Kelley was the paternal half-sister of singer Aretha Franklin. She was born on November 17, 1940, in Memphis, Tennessee. Her parents were Rev. C. L. Franklin and Mildred Jennings. Carl was raised by her grandmother, Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry.

Carl later made contact with her father and became part of the wider Franklin family. She lived a private life and did not follow Aretha into music. Carl had three children, Vivian Smith, Herman E. Wheatley III, and Charles G. Smith. She died on January 30, 2019, at age 78.

Quick Bio

Detail	Information
Full name	Carl Ellan Kelley
Date of birth	November 17, 1940
Place of birth	Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Nationality	American
Father	Rev. C. L. Franklin
Mother	Mildred Jennings
Raised by	Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry
Known for	Being Aretha Franklin’s paternal half-sister
Paternal half-siblings	Aretha, Erma, Carolyn, and Cecil Franklin
Children	Vivian Smith, Herman E. Wheatley III, Charles G. Smith
Grandchildren	Seven
Great-grandchildren named in obituary	One, Ariya
Date of death	January 30, 2019
Age at death	78
Resting place stated in obituary	Evergreen Washelli Cemetery, Seattle, Washington

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Early Life

Carl Ellan Kelley was born on November 17, 1940, in Memphis, Tennessee. Her father, Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, was known as Rev. C. L. Franklin. He became a well-known Baptist minister and civil rights leader. Carl’s mother was Mildred Jennings.

Biographer Nick Salvatore wrote that Mildred Jennings was 12 years old when Carl was born. Jennings was a member of C. L. Franklin’s church in Memphis. Carl did not grow up in the same home as Aretha and several of her other paternal half-siblings.

Few verified details about Carl’s early years are public. Reliable records do not give clear details about her schools or education. Much of her childhood remained outside the public eye.

Who Raised Carl Ellan Kelley?

Carl Ellan Kelley was raised by her grandmother, Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry. Carl’s obituary confirms that her grandmother raised her. As a result, Carl spent her childhood apart from her father and his other children.

Carl knew that C. L. Franklin was her father. However, she did not grow up with him. She later chose to contact him when she was a young woman.

There is little verified public information about Carl’s daily life as a child. Her obituary does not give details about her education or childhood interests. It does confirm that her grandmother played an important role in raising her.

Carl Ellan Kelley and C. L. Franklin

Carl Ellan Kelley contacted her father when she was in her late teens. An account based on C. L. Franklin’s biography says Carl wrote to him before they met. A minister linked to A. R. Williams’s church in Memphis also helped her make contact with him.

Carl later traveled to Detroit. There, C. L. Franklin accepted her as his daughter. This brought Carl into contact with members of her father’s family.

Carl continued to visit her father after their first meeting. Their contact continued as she grew older. She also stayed linked to members of the wider Franklin family.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Franklin Family Connection

Through C. L. Franklin, Carl Ellan Kelley was part of the Franklin family. Her paternal half-siblings included Aretha Franklin, Erma Franklin, Carolyn Franklin, and Cecil Franklin. They shared the same father but had different mothers.

Carl met members of the Franklin family after she went to Detroit. Accounts say Rachel Franklin, known as “Big Mama,” welcomed her. Carl’s contact with other members of the family continued over time.

Vaughn Franklin was also part of the Franklin family. He was Barbara Siggers Franklin’s son from an earlier relationship. C. L. Franklin later adopted him. This means Vaughn and Carl were not biological half-siblings through C. L. Franklin.

Carl stayed mostly outside public life. Unlike some members of the Franklin family, she did not become known for a music career. Most public interest in Carl Ellan Kelley came from her family connection.

Carl Ellan Kelley and Aretha Franklin

Carl Ellan Kelley and Aretha Franklin shared the same father, C. L. Franklin. Aretha was born on March 25, 1942. She later became one of the world’s best-known soul singers and was widely called the “Queen of Soul.”

Carl lived a much more private life. She did not have the same public music career as Aretha. As Aretha became famous, Carl remained mostly outside the spotlight.

Carl was named in a handwritten 2014 will found after Aretha Franklin’s death. Reports about the will said it included a $50,000 gift for Carl. Carl died in 2019 while issues around Aretha’s estate were still being settled.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Private Life

Carl Ellan Kelley spent most of her life outside the public eye. She was not a public figure like Aretha Franklin. As a result, many details about her adult life were never widely reported.

Reliable records give little information about Carl’s marriage or partner. Her obituary does not provide a clear marriage history. There is also little verified information about her private relationships.

Carl had ties to Memphis and later Seattle. Still, few details about her daily life are available in public records. Most verified information about her comes from family records and her obituary.

Her private life explains why many parts of Carl Ellan Kelley’s story are not well known. Available records give a clearer picture of her family than of her personal interests or daily life.

Did Carl Ellan Kelley Have Children?

Carl Ellan Kelley had three children named in her obituary. They were Vivian Smith, Herman E. Wheatley III, and Charles G. Smith. Vivian died before her mother.

Herman E. Wheatley III and Charles G. Smith survived Carl. Her obituary confirms these family details and gives a clearer record than some online profiles that list only two children.

Carl also had seven grandchildren. Her obituary names Alyssa, Rayden, Amaria, Herman IV, Justin, Tevin, and Detric. She also had a great-grandchild named Ariya.

Carl Ellan Kelley was therefore a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her children and grandchildren were an important part of her family life.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Career

Very little verified information is public about Carl Ellan Kelley’s career. Some online profiles say she worked as a nurse. However, her obituary does not list nursing as her job. There is not enough strong proof to state this as a fact.

Carl lived outside the public eye for most of her life. Because of this, there are few clear records about where she worked or what jobs she held. Her work history should not be filled with details that have not been confirmed.

What is clear is that Carl did not follow Aretha Franklin into the music world. She was not known as a singer or public performer. Her life stayed private, even as the Franklin family became famous.

Carl Ellan Kelley and Aretha Franklin’s Will

Carl Ellan Kelley was named in a handwritten will linked to Aretha Franklin. The document was dated 2014 and was found at Aretha’s home after her death in August 2018. Reports about the will said it included a $50,000 gift for Carl.

The will became part of a long legal case over Aretha’s estate. In July 2023, a Michigan jury found that the handwritten 2014 document was Aretha’s valid will. This happened more than four years after Carl’s death.

Carl died in January 2019, while the estate case was still not settled. Because of this, it is safer to say that the will listed a $50,000 gift for Carl. Public reports do not give a simple record showing that Carl herself received this money before her death.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Later Years

Carl Ellan Kelley stayed away from fame during her later years. She did not have the same public life as Aretha Franklin. There are also few interviews or public records that describe Carl’s daily life during this time.

Carl had a strong family line of her own. Her obituary names her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild. These records give a better view of her later family life than many short online profiles do.

Carl also had a clear link to Seattle, Washington. Her obituary states that she was to be laid to rest there. Still, reliable records give few other details about her later years, so much of this part of her life remained private.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Death

Carl Ellan Kelley died on January 30, 2019. She was 78 years old. Her death came less than six months after Aretha Franklin died on August 16, 2018.

Carl’s official obituary confirms her date of death but does not state a cause. Some websites have said that she died from a heart attack or heart failure. These claims are not confirmed by the obituary.

For this reason, there is no need to guess about the cause of her death. The verified facts are clear: Carl Ellan Kelley died on January 30, 2019, at age 78.

Where Was Carl Ellan Kelley Buried?

Carl’s funeral notice said that services were held in Memphis, Tennessee. It also stated that Carl would be laid to rest at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.

Some online articles give a different burial place. One claim says Carl was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. Her funeral-home obituary, however, names Evergreen Washelli Cemetery.

The obituary is the stronger record for this part of Carl Ellan Kelley’s story. It connects her final resting place with Seattle, a city that was also part of her later life.

Carl Ellan Kelley’s Family Legacy

Carl Ellan Kelley had a unique place in the Franklin family. She shared a father with Aretha, Erma, Carolyn, and Cecil Franklin. Yet her life was very different from the public lives of some of her siblings.

Aretha became one of the biggest names in soul music. Erma and Carolyn also worked in music. Carl, by contrast, stayed mostly outside the public eye. She built a family of her own and had children, grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

Her story also adds another part to the history of C. L. Franklin’s family. Carl grew up apart from her father but later made contact with him and became linked with his family. That family link continued for many years.

Carl Ellan Kelley is often searched for because she was Aretha Franklin’s half-sister. But the known facts show that her life was more than that one connection. She was also a daughter, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

Final Thoughts

Carl Ellan Kelley was born on November 17, 1940, in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the daughter of C. L. Franklin and Mildred Jennings. She was raised by her grandmother, Cornelious Mayo Hill Berry, and later made contact with her father and the Franklin family.

Carl lived a private life compared with Aretha Franklin. She had three children named in her obituary: Vivian Smith, Herman E. Wheatley III, and Charles G. Smith. She also had seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Carl Ellan Kelley died on January 30, 2019, at age 78. Her obituary said she would be laid to rest at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle. While many parts of her private life were never made public, verified family records help give a clear picture of her life and her place in the Franklin family.

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