MENTONE - Walter "Joe" Kelley, 80, of 219 S. Harrison St., Atwood, died at 7:20 p.m. Dec. 2, 2008, in his residence.
He was born May 17, 1928, in Fulton County, to Loren Wayne and Mary Elizabeth Dillman Kelley. On July 2, 1950, in Rochester, he married Iris M. Drabenstott.
He was a carpenter and a U.S. Army veteran, serving during the Korean War. He was a Boy Scout leader in Atwood and Mentone, and was a part of the baseball youth league in Mentone. He was a member of the Word of Truth Ministries, Milford, where he was a greeter and the maintenance supervisor. He was Jo Jo the Gospel Singing Clown, loved to bowl and belonged to the Christian League in Warsaw.
Surviving are three daughters: Josie (and spouse Lew) Snell, Walkerton; Debra (and spouse Harry) Stambaugh, Mentone; and Pamela (and spouse William) Wright, Leesburg; two sons, Michael (and spouse Dee) Kelley, Milford, and Philip (and spouse Fanny) Kelley, Atwood; 12 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and three sisters: Esther (and spouse Charles) Sainer, Oklahoma; Betty (and spouse Fred) Wood, Rochester; and Dora Miller, Palestine. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Jean Adams and Maxine Jensen, and two brothers, Wayne Jr. and Kenneth Kelley.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at King Memorial Home, 101 N. Tucker St., Mentone, with Pastor Michael Kelley officiating. Burial will be in Harrison Center Cemetery, Etna Green, with graveside military rites by members of American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, Warsaw.
Calling is from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.
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Memorials to Word of Truth Ministries, P.O. Box 478, Milford, IN 46542.
Condolences may be sent to www.hartzlerfuneralservices.com
