Raymond I. Kelley
Raymond Ivan Kelley, aka Pops, passed away on April 20, 2020.
When you asked him his birthday, he would respond 23 43. I wonder if his parents knew when they first saw him on February 3, 1943 that he would become the man that every man should strive to be.
We learned so much from Pops thru the years. He did not preach about how to live a good life. He did not preach how to be a good person. Pops was a walking, talking example for all to see.
He was a math teacher at Sullivan High School (Missouri) during the 70s. Imagine a corvette pulling up to a HS, the door opens and out steps this tall dark and handsome man. As he strolled down the hall with his big smile and polyester bell bottom pants, matching slightly worn white belt and shoes and the perfect Tom Selleck mustache. The girls must have all just melted. He coached the football team at Sullivan onto many victories in that small town of 5,000. He taught those young men about winning on the field and doing the right things off the field.
Pops loved smooth scotch and crazy women. He was an amazing singer and was seen by many in Karaoke bars across the US. He was a Route 66 kind of guy. As a teenager during a midnight race, he drove the tires of the rims while taking a corner on some forgotten backroad in Arkansas.
He was a professional at putting just the right amount of English on a pool ball. A card shark. He loved restoring old cars. He had a brilliant mind, yet was unassuming. He would laugh at his own mistakes and at his own jokes. He lived a simple life and talked in riddles. He would give away everything to anyone. The only thing he held onto was family. He loved to fish, fix things, and flirt. He was a lifelong MacGyver.
He did not have a favorite color, he said he liked them all equally. He was kind and giving and never let a chip land on his shoulders. He was a cowboy, a farm boy, a good ole boy and one heck of a man.
Instead of cards or flowers, please do something nice for someone you don’t know, in honor of this incredible man.
The world needs more guys like you Pops. Words cannot describe how much he was loved and how much he will be missed.