Ernest Richey Kelley (1907 - 1993)

Born 18 Aug 1907 in Utopia, Uvalde, Texas, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Annie Ruth Adair — married 20 Sep 1935 in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, USA

Died 4 May 1993 at age 85 in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Laurie Wentz [send private message] and Debra Kelley [send private message]

Biography

Ernest was buried after 4 May 1993 in Sabinal, Uvalde, Texas, USA. Note:

Research Notes

Notes from external profile

Notes for ERNEST* RICHEY KELLEY: Memories of Granddaddy

By Cynthia Farris Haight

Who was Ernest Richey Kelley?

being born in Utopia, Texas, on August 18, 1907

suffering the brutality of a cruel, evil father

protecting his two younger brothers from him

helping put his brother through veterinary school

grading and paving the highways all around South Texas

marrying a shy, educated proper lady

loving two children, a son and eleven months later, a daughter

working hard as a carpenter, his chosen trade

leaving the white-framed house on the banks of the Sabinal River

buying a 237 acre farm five miles south of Sabinal

plowing from sun-up to sun-down in his khaki work pants and shirt

hanging his hat on the longhorns above his closet

bringing home a baby skunk for his daughter

selling calves until his heart couldn't take their bawling anymore

stuffing himself on Bobby's delicious cooking

slapping his knee and roaring with laughter at anything humorous

telling true, scary panther stories to us on the front porch at night

saying "He-Yaaw!" when he wanted your full attention

taking all the dogs and me with him to feed the cows

watching Lawrence Welk every week, thoroughly enjoying it

showing me his black thumbnail where he hit it with his hammer

grinning as he expertly drove through the muddiest roads

killing every single rattlesnake he ever saw

saddling up Slowpoke, Boy and Merrylegs for us to ride

rescuing Cissy from a neighbor's deadly fence-line snare

keeping each lost, abandoned, or stray dog he came across

moving to town, too old to run the farm anymore

making me a bookshelf with cabinets for my room

putting Blackie out of her misery one horrible night

losing Bobby after fifty years and nine months of marriage

Then:

experiencing several small strokes

saying good-bye to his three little, white dogs

undergoing surgery to clear his clogged carotid artery

having a massive stroke in the hospital

diminishing him from the lion-hearted man he once was

dying in a nursing home - freeing his kind spirit to laugh once again

Sources

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M238-GNJ : accessed 2 October 2021), Earnest R Kelly in household of Elbert V Kelly, Justice Precinct 7, Uvalde, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 131, sheet 13A, family 171, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1593; FHL microfilm 1,375,606.