Howard Beland Kelly

Born to Howard Rolland Kelly and Kathleen Beland Kelly in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Dad was the third of four children. He attended Immaculate Conception grade school and St. Anne’s Academy high school in Ft. Smith, the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, numerous other colleges and programs through the U.S. Air Force, and Pima Community College here in Tucson. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity while attending Arkansas. He met Shirley Clare Champlin through a mutual friend while stationed in Tennessee, and as he always said, the one good decision he made in his life was to marry her – any other good choices were either Mom’s doing or sheer luck, according to Dad. An officer and navigator in the USAF, Dad retired from his last post at Davis-Monthan after over 20 years of service. He returned to college and became a radiology technician, his second career.

Pre-deceased by his parents, wife, and siblings Patricia (John) Schmidt and Christopher Kelly, he is survived by sister and brother-in-law, Ann and Carl Falivene, and daughter Susan (Miguel Cimadevilla) Kelly, as well as numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and “adopted”, extended family.

Rosary and visitation will be held Thursday, 9-24-2015, from 6 – 8 p.m., at East Lawn Palms Mortuary. Funeral mass will be held Friday, 9-25-2015, at 10:30 a.m., at St. Cyril of Alexandria Catholic Church. Burial will follow at East Lawn Cemetery. Suggested charities include the St. Joseph’s Indian School (stjo.org), the American Indian College Fund (collegefund.org), the Native American Rights Fund (narf.org), the Humane Society (hssaz.org), and the Disabled American Vets (DAV.org)