Where do we start.... Ray and Helen were our 2nd parents while we lived in Florida. We went out to eat almost every weekend and had many good times together. Our trips on weekends were very memoriable which made all of our lives enjoyable. Their love for the Lord touched many people especially ours.  We will never forget their love, support and Prayers. What friendship!  We love you Ray and Helen and always will!! May the family enjoy many, many memories.

I will always remember how much Ray & Helen loved the Lord. I was blessed by knowing them. Now they are with the Lord and have eternal life.  Holiday Free Methodist was blessed to have such loving folks apart of our family. 

I wish to extend my most sincere condolences to Red's entire family. What a glorious legacy remains in the grandchildren and great grandchildren who knew him well. He lives on through them.  
To his sister Glady and brother Earl I share the grief of losing their beloved older brother,  who I only met a few times but heard hundreds of stories of their adventures growing up together. 
 
I also rejoice with you all knowing he is at home with his cherished bride, looking into the face of Jesus.

In Christ's love,
Barbara Fisher
Salem, Ohio


Ray was a loving father and grandfather who knew the Lord well and is now smiling and celebrating in His presence with his wife who preceded him to heaven . He will be missed by his children and grandchildren.  As long time friends of the family , we saw the love and modeling he shared.  Many blessings and much comfort are our prayers to the family as we all celebrate his passing . Barb & Lee

Mr Kelly was always an inspiration and role model for me as I grew up in Miami. Dennis and Ray were always smiling, laughing, telling stories and going golfing! Although I only spent a short time with him, over the years I heard many many stories of his exploits and his love for Helen.  Heaven is still rejoicing for his arrival and I’m sure my Dad and Mom are part of the welcoming crew!! 

 I remember Mr. Kelly long ago on Christmas when I drove with Dennis and Carol to Tampa. Mr.  Kelly was so kind and generous when I stayed at their house.  He talked and listened to me, a person he didn't really know. Mr. Kelly was and honorable man who serve God and his family. My last memory of him was last Christmas. He held Chris's hand and talk to and listen to him.

There are men who long to be memorialized in brass or stone. Then there are men who long to leave a quiet, but eternal legacy. I’m proud to say my grandfather was the latter. 

Known as Red, Grandpa had a spirit to match his fiery head. A veteran of WWII, he was one of the last survivors of the Greatest Generation. Grandpa understood the value in a life of humility & grace. He didn’t seek accolades, though well-deserved. Instead he ordered his priorities: Christ, Grandma, family. 

My memories reflect this. Whether it was time at the beach or picking grapefruit from his trees, he loved us well, and every trip to FL was packed with adventure. 

Grandpa also loved his sweets, despite being a diabetic. And the Disney World fudge, which he carried all day only to drop in the parking lot in the pouring rain, will be an enduring memory. 

Grandpa’s relationship with Grandma bore a sacred weight, and I’m forever thankful for that legacy. They adored one another, and I know they are restored and reunited in the presence of Christ. 

More than anything though, the heritage Grandpa leaves behind is one of a lifetime of faith. He showed me what it meant to believe in Christ for grace & salvation and to live it out. My fondest memories are the moments we would gather after breakfast; he would read his King James, then he’d fold his hands, bow his head, and pray for us with humility and fervency. 

We will not know, this side of heaven, all that Grandpa’s prayers produced, but I know he is receiving the reward for his faith. God granted him 95 years, and though the pain of his passing is searing, we rejoice that he is restored in the presence of Christ.

Grandpa ... you ran the race set before you, you fought the good fight. So as you meet your Savior, only one thing remains to be said: well done, good & faithful servant. Thank you for your legacy. We love you.

PS. When you dine at the banquet table, enjoy a big piece of fudge! I’m sure it’s better than the parking-lot variety.

John 16:33 (NIV)
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

My grandfather was a titan of a man.  He served with distinction during world war II, and victoriously liberated Europe from the Nazis.  If it weren’t for men like my grandfather, the truth is a very different flag would be flying over Buckingham palace, Paris, and the rest of Europe..   

After coming home, he married the love of his life…for 69 years!  If I’m a fraction of the man he was, I'll consider myself fortunate.  He taught me gently, and never once raised his voice.  I got to spend every summer for a long time at his house and with my grandma. I will always treasure everything that he taught me - like the value of doing your absolute best at everything, because the time we have is finite. 

My grandfather was not perfect, but he did what he thought was right, always.  

When I was 12, I had to have major surgery on my legs, and he showed up every day with my grandma.  Many a hand of Skipbo and Rook were played while I healed.

He gave thousands of hours to his church, and taught me the importance of serving others with a full heart, and helped mold who I am today.    

Listing everything he was - that I hope I will become - would take far more space than I have, and I will close simply by saying that there will never be another man quite like him.

“RED2 to RED1 permission to detach formation” – enjoy eternity grandpa!  You are hardly gone, and I already miss you.  But by now your careening across galaxies – dancing across the cosmos with grandma… what a beautiful day!  

Love, 
Chris

OBITUARY

Raymond F Kelly

August 28, 1922 – June 20, 2018

Babione Funeral Home

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