Keltie Louise Hays Peay, 46, of Nashville, Tenn., passed away on August 7, 2020.

Keltie was born on October 29, 1973 in Lexington and was the oldest daughter of Willard and Peggy Hays.

She grew up on post at Virginia Military Institute. Her love of reading and writing was evident at an early age when she helped form (and proclaimed herself the editor of) The Parade Times. Throughout middle and high school, she was active in dance, community theater, and school clubs including the Latin club, National Honor Society and cheerleading.

After graduating from Lexington High School, she attended Harvard University where she concentrated in history and literature and was on the Radcliffe crew team. While she was very much a southern girl at heart and never approved of the way Harvard dining services made cornbread, she loved her time in Cambridge and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1995. After Harvard, Keltie went to law school at the University of Virginia where she was on the law review and spent three glorious years in Charlottesville.

Keltie moved to Danville after law school to clerk for Judge Jackson Kiser on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. She later moved to Reno, Nev., to clerk for Judge Brunetti on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Following her clerkships, she joined the prestigious law firm of Neal and Harwell in Nashville, Tenn., working for and with Jim Neal who became a beloved mentor.

Keltie married Jim Peay in 2004 and would spend the next several years in North Carolina, England, and Rhode Island as a seasonal army wife. She was thrilled to welcome their son, James Henry Binford Peay V in 2010. Henry was and is the light in her heart.

In 2014, Keltie returned to her beloved Nashville and found her place working at Parnassus Books for the inimitable Ann Patchett where she found a loving crew of booksellers.

Keltie was a loving mother, a devoted daughter, sister, aunt and a loyal friend. Few things delighted her more than adventures with her son, Henry, spoiling her niece and nephew, and time spent with close friends.

Keltie always cheered for the underdog in sports and life. She was a proud feminist and an advocate for those who could not advocate for themselves; she was always up for a good fight when the cause was a worthy one. She was a reader and a writer, a dreamer and a doer. Keltie was one in a million with a gorgeous heart, mind, and soul. Simply put ‒ there's no one else like her and she will be missed terribly.

Predeceased by her father, Willard, Keltie is survived by her son, Henry Peay; mother, Peggy Webster Hays; sister, Meridith Hays Benincasa; brother-in-law, Francesco Benincasa; nephew, Francesco Hays Benincasa; niece, Giulia Louise Benincasa; and several dear cousins, aunts, and uncles, and innumerable friends that love and adore her.

There will be a service at a later date to remember and celebrate Keltie.

The family is asking that memorial donations in Keltie’'s honor be made to BINC (book industry charitable foundation) bincfoundation.org, The Equal Justice Initiative eji.org, and Emerge TN ,a href="https://tn.emergeamerica.org">tn.emergeamerica.org.