Gerald Sidney Kelly

He married Iva Ellen Shelton on Dec. 23, 1951, in First Baptist Church of Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Two sons, Mark Alan and Brian Timothy, were born to that union.

He was a 1959 graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and served as pastor of churches in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma over the course of more than 60 years in ministry. He served for two years in the United States Army at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

He retired as administrator of the Ada (Okla.) Baptist Village in August 1997 and continued serving churches on an interim or part-time basis. He also assisted with the prayer and spiritual awakening program of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He served several times as a volunteer with a missions ministry in Malawi that assisted orphans, drilled water wells, taught seminary students, and preached in villages.

In 2009, the Kellys moved to Shawnee and began serving in a campus prayer ministry at Oklahoma Baptist University through the North American Mission Board’s Mission Service Corps program.

The Kellys moved to the Baptist Village of Oklahoma City in October 2015.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Vera Burand; two brothers, Billy Joe and Jack; an infant sister, Jean; an infant brother, Pat.

He is survived by his wife and two sons, one sister, Peggy; four grandchildren, and six-great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be held Saturday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. at Sharon Baptist Church in Tecumseh, Okla., under the auspices of Resthaven Funeral Home, with interment at Tecumseh Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday, Oct. 6, from 5 pm to 8 pm at Resthaven Funeral Home in Shawnee.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Oklahoma Baptist University; the Larry Adams Fund at the Baptist Village of Oklahoma City; or Mission Dignity at Guidestone Financial Resources.