Earl Kelley

Thomas Earl Kelley was born on January 2, 1926, at 10 a.m. to Thomas William and Luella (Park) Kelley on a farm near Panama, Iowa. He learned how to work hard and at an early age he developed a keen interest in the care and habits of horses because his days of farm work usually revolved around using them in the fields. As a young man he was known for his strength picking corn by hand. One season he was known to pick 10,000 bushels by himself. On January 15, 1945, Earl married Claire Thiles at the Methodist Parsonage in Woodbine. A few weeks later he was drafted in the U. S. Army; he was sent to Japan where he was a quartermaster at Osaka and Nagoya. Returning home in November of 1946, he and Claire set up farming on the original Kelley farmstead for over 40 years. Claire died on September 8, 2011.

Earl loved animals and farming and had few interests outside of that. He was a practical man who faced life's problems headon. After they moved to town, he continued to drive to the farm daily, caring for the livestock. In later years, coffee at Gary's Ag became part of his morning routine where he became known for his one liners. Earl was a member of the Woodbine United Methodist Church.

Earl died at 10 a.m. October 6, 2015, in Woodbine, Iowa at the age of 89 years, nine months and four days.

Earl was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Claire; sister, Opal Toxword; brother, Alvin Kelley; three sisters-in-law, Dorothy Kelley, Doris Kelley and Jan Kelley; and two brothers-in-law, Oren Toxword and Bob Schraeder. He is survived by four daughters, Letty (Fred) Lindberg of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Lucille (Phil) Hull of Waco, Texas, Carolyn (Jim) Juergens of Omaha, Nebraska, and Dianne (Denny) Book of Walnut, Iowa; ten grandchildren; fifteen great grandchildren; three brothers, Walter Kelley of Woodbine, Iowa, George (Imy) of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Don Kelley of Woodbine, Iowa; sister, Lois Schraeder of Woodbine, Iowa; and many other relatives and friends.