Nelson "Skip" Kelly • 1947 - 2010

Nelson “Skip” Kelly, 63, Glenburn, ND, formerly of San Diego, CA, died Friday, December 3, 2010, in a Minot hospital. 

Nelson Harvey “Skip” Kelly was born April 24, 1947, in Minot, a son of Lawrence Russell Kelly, Sr. and Ruby (Routledge) Kelly. When he was a young boy, his parents divorced. His mother married Lester Rhoads in 1952, and together they raised Skip.

Skip received his schooling at Glenburn Public School, graduating in 1965. He enlisted in the United States Navy, and received his basic training at the Naval Station in San Diego, CA. He served from December 5, 1965 to January 26, 1970. He was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Constellation, and made four trips to the Gulf of Tonkin in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam conflict. He was honorably discharged as a Petty Officer Second Class (E-5).

Following his discharge from the Navy, he returned to San Diego. He married Miranda Jo Leinen on February 14, 1971. They were divorced in August of 1985.
Skip worked for a time at Tom Russell’s Chevron station in San Diego before starting work at Rohr Industries in 1972. He was employed at Rohr for over 20 years as a riveter assembling jet engines and as a maintenance man.

He moved back to North Dakota in the summer of 1994 to the family farm near Glenburn, and had lived there until the time of his death.

Skip is survived by his mother, Ruby (Routledge) Rhoads, Good Samaritan Society, Mohall, ND; son, Andrew Kelly and his wife, Jennifer Kelly and their children, Lucas and Gavin Kelly, all of Santee,
CA; sisters, Avis (Rhoads) Veikley and Debra (Rhoads) Jensen, both of Minot; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his step-father, Lester Rhoads, and brother, Lawrence Kelly, Jr.

Funeral: Monday, December 13, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. at Congregational United Church of Christ, Minot.

Interment:  Fairview Cemetery, Glenburn, ND, in the spring of 2011.

Visitation:  Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.

To sign the online guest register for Skip

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