Rev. Adrian R. Kelly

Adrian Richard Kelly was born to Richard and Odella Kelly on June 15, 1929, at his grandparent’s farm near Okawville, Illinois. He was the second of three children, with an older sister, Vivian Lee (Scott), and a younger sister, Helen Jane (Cramer). His childhood was spent in the Maplewood area of St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended Concordia Lutheran School. High school years were at Southwest High in St. Louis and at Maplewood-Richmond Heights High (MRH), with graduation from MRH in 1946.

During Adrian’s high school years, the pastor of his home church encouraged him to consider becoming a parochial school teacher. He enrolled at Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska. After his junior year, he completed a one-year internship as a 7th and 8th grade teacher at Cross Lutheran School in Omaha, Nebraska. During this time, the parish was being served by Rev. Oscar William Luecke. Oscar and his wife, Cecelia, introduced Adrian to Oscar’s sister, the person who would become Adrian’s wife of 45 years. Adrian married Jessie Mae Luecke at Cross Lutheran on February 11, 1950. They returned to Seward, where Adrian graduated in 1951, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education with concentrations in English and religion.

Adrian’s first assignment was to a small Lutheran school in Overland, Missouri, as a teacher-principal where he remained for one year until accepting a call to serve as a teacher in a seven-room elementary and junior high school in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. After one year, a call was extended for him to serve as principal, in addition to his teaching duties. It was while in Ft. Lauderdale that Adrian enrolled at Florida State University in a graduate program. He completed his residency in the summers of 1954-1957, after which he received a Master of Science in Educational Administration and Supervision. During this time, Adrian and Jesse befriended a new teacher, Henry Lettermann, and his wife, Betty Lou, who many years later would become Adrian’s second wife, following the deaths of their respective spouses. In 1956, Adrian accepted a call as principal-teacher at Peace Lutheran Church in Lemay, Missouri, where he served for three years. Adrian then received a call to serve as principal-teacher at the Lutheran church in Wentzville, Missouri. While there, the Lord led Adrian to enroll at Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, Illinois, where he received his Bachelor of Divinity in 1966 and Master of Divinity in 1974.

In his own autobiography, Adrian recalled those days as follows:

The Lord blessed us with three daughters, born in 1951, 1954 and 1956. How well we remember the summer days at graduate school in Tallahassee, living in the old abandoned Air Force barracks with clothesline strung throughout the apartment, which was filled with drying diapers. I cannot sufficiently express my appreciation for all that my wife and family did—and put up with—to give me the opportunity to further my professional education, both at this time, and again later as I went through the seminary program.

For over 46 years, Adrian’s ministry included development and nurturing of new mission churches, pastoral care to our country’s veterans through the Veterans Administration, and outreach to under-served populations. During his career, Adrian’s contributions to Missouri Synod church leadership included seven years of service as a Florida-Georgia Circuit counselor. He also served at St. Thomas (Ohio), and at Tampa churches St. Matthew, Messiah, and Zion.

Adrian is survived by his wife, Betty Lou; daughters, Linda Kelly, Carol (Rudy) Loperena, and Christyne Lettermann; son, Richard (Barbara) Lettermann; sister, Helen Jane Cramer; brothers-in-law, Harrison Scott and Leonard Piotter; and grandchildren, Angela Loperena, Anne Liedtke, Paul Strietelmeier, and Heather Lettermann; and niece, Edith Bowlby. He is pre-deceased by his first wife, Jessie, and his daughter, Patricia Kelly.