James Thomas Kellis

Jim was born in Sterling City, Texas on March 27, 1935, to James Patrick and Gladys Elizabeth. Jim’s father was a judge and rancher, and his mother was a school teacher. Jim was the younger of two sons, and both boys worked actively at the family ranch in Arizona where they moved when Jim was a boy.

In Arizona Jim attended Prescott High School, where he met his future wife Eleanor Joan McNarie. Jim and Joan married in 1957 and moved to Orange County, California in 1960. In the later years of their life together, Jim and Joan loved touring California and the rest of the US by motorcycle.

Jim had a great affinity for math and science and all things mechanical and electrical. He earned his Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Arizona. He had a very successful career working on the cutting edge of new electronic technologies, specializing in circuit design with numerable innovations and patents.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Joan. He is survived by his brother William Samuel; children James Thomas Jr. (Erika) and Jay Michael (Michelle); grandchildren Jeffrey (Brynne), John, Genevieve (John), James III, Julian, Chris, Stephen (Kate), and Melanie (Kyle); and great-grandchildren Braxley and Jackson.

A funeral service for James Thomas Kellis will be held at Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California at 12:30pm on Monday, December 9. All are invited to attend.