Kelly Renee King (Knecht)

Born May 23, 1963

Died July 5, 2013

Kelly died quietly at the hospital, surrounded by loving family and friends. She is survived by her husband Curtis Patrick King, her mother Bernadine Knecht-Dirksen, sisters Lorie Knecht (Frank) Duran and Carol Sue Knecht (Rick Weaver), nieces Tawney Knecht and Anna Bohannon, and nephew Patrick Bohannon.

Services will be held at Advantage Mortuary at 6425 W. Alameda on Thursday, July 11 at 2:00 p.m. Reception following the service at The Retreat Lounge at 2186 S. Colorado Blvd. where we will be celebrating Kelly's life.

An account from her husband, Curtis P. King:

“We have been friends for over twenty years before we got married. In that time, we were both seeing other people during that period, but she would always come by The Retreat. We’d flirt, and she would always run up to me and jump into a hug.

There was a period of time where we didn’t really see each other, but about three and a half years ago she wasn’t seeing anyone, and she had tried to hook me up with another friend of hers. After we got to talking, she invited me to a Halloween party at Lorie’s house, and I decided to go. I went as Larry the Cable Guy, and she went as Las Vegas showgirl. At some point during the party, I went outside to gather my thoughts, and I was singing to myself when she came out. She asked me what I was up to, at which point proceeded to sing about three songs to her. After that, I asked if I could kiss her, she said yes, and we bumped front teeth. We tried again, with more success.

After that kiss, she invited me to go on a trip with her to The Ameristar, and I said I’d go. She began to get cold feet about the trip after a while, but I reaffirmed her choice and said that I really wanted to go. It was really good for us, and the best thing we almost didn’t do. On that trip we got more comfortable with each other, in terms of our friendship and our new relationship, and it smoothed out a lot of fears for both of us. We’ve tried to spend as much time together ever since.

I actually proposed to her twice. It was July 14, but when I got the ring I proposed again on August 14. She said yes both times. In order for us to save money and enjoy the beginning part of our marriage, Bill offered to let us move into his house for a little while, and it was a big help to us. Bill has gone through some hard times, too, but Kelly was always there for him, and he was always there for her, and has been a tremendous help through the years.

We got married September 4, 2011 and honeymooned in Arizona. We’ve also been to some great places in Colorado—Mt. Evans, Mt. Elbert, Estes Park, Leadville, and more. She turned me on to Wellington Lake, and I fell in love with it. We bought a plastic boat, "The Fishin’ Bucket," and always had a great time on it.

She was my beautiful little girl, and I’m so happy that we got to share all of these beautiful places together. Although they’ll never be as beautiful without her.”