Waxahachie Daily Light article on Jack Kelley

Dr. Jackson Clay Kelley will be remembered for his irrepressible good humor – and an abiding affection for his Rotary Club, his adopted hometown of Waxahachie, Texas, and his family.

Honored for logging 49 years perfect attendance at the Waxahachie Rotary Club and as Most Outstanding Member of the Year by the Waxahachie Chamber of Commerce, Kelley, 92, died Thursday morning at home.

Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Waxahachie, with reception immediately following in the Family Life Center.

Jack Kelley had just retired from his veterinary business on Brookside Road when David McSpadden came to town to construct the Econo-Lodge there a quarter-century ago. Seeing the construction under way, “Jack just walked across the highway and came down to meet me,” he said, recalling the information Kelley shared of the history of the area and the road itself. “He was just being neighborly – that’s just Jack,” McSpadden remembered. “He was a true Texas gentleman in the finest tradition.”

He remembers Kelley a walking library of significant information, “a steel-trap mind” – and untiringly upbeat. “It didn’t matter what the circumstances were, he had good things to say about anybody and everybody. With that as the foundation of his world, Jack got up happy every day,” he said.

A card-carrying member of the Choctaw tribe, Jackson Clay Kelley was born in Soper, Okla. He went to school in Antlers, Okla., before graduating from Beaumont’s French High School in 1933. He put himself through Texas A&M University, graduating in 1937 as a vocational ag teacher. He returned to A&M to get doctor of veterinary medicine degree, finishing in 1945 and moving to Waxahachie with wife Geneva in 1946. He was the first veterinarian in Waxahachie, his son Bill said.

The younger Kelley recalled the love for fishing, hunting and the outdoors Jack Kelley learned from his loving father, Ike Kelley, in rural Oklahoma – and then passed on to his sons.He also remembered his dad’s deep Aggie roots. “He was 100 percent maroon-and-white. In his large animal practice, the stall where the sick cows were unloaded was painted orange. When the cows got well, he would put them in a maroon stall,” Bill said with a chuckle.

Jack Kelley was honored for almost a half-century of perfect attendance at Rotary meetings. He and Geneva traveled all over the world – and when they got where they were going, the Kelleys attended Rotary Club meetings there.Two years ago, at 90, Kelley was the oldest Rotarian on the district conference cruise – his first cruise ever. He invited David McSpadden to go on the cruise with him for company.“That old guy wore me out,” McSpadden recalled with a chuckle. “We walked all over and saw every level, including the captain’s helm. He didn’t miss a thing.”

Former City Manager Bob Sokoll recalled the Paul Harris Fellow as “the Rotarian’s Rotarian – the most dedicated Rotarian I ever met.” McSpadden agreed.“He was dedicated to the prospect that attendance and participation were the key to fellowship – that if you don’t show up, you can’t get to know anybody,” he said.

At Rotary Club last week, the 92-year-old was still showing up. He had to be helped into a rolling swivel desk chair to get to the meeting room because it was too far for his walker.

“That was the kind of indomitable spirit he had,” McSpadden said. “I sat next to him at Rotary last week and we had a great conversation. One of my regrets is that Jack wasn’t looking very good and, when I got back from L.A., I wanted to get together and turn on a tape recorder and let him talk.”Hearing that Kelley had donated his body to science at UT Southwestern Medical School, his Rotary buddy wasn’t surprised. “That’s Jack – giving even beyond the end. That’s him. I’m not surprised whatsoever – he was one of the most generous men I ever met – he just had a generous heart,” he said.

Jack Kelley’s last living son, Bill Kelley, said the avid Rotarian would be remembered for his sense of humor and his devotion to Waxahachie and to his family. As a public service, the Rotary Club put stickers on cars to remind area residents when their license plates had expired. A gentle nod to his humor and his role as the program’s biggest booster, the family plans to put one of the stickers on the display table at Jack Kelley’s memorial service.

Jack and Geneva Kelley were married for 67 years before her passing three years ago. They were members of the East Texas Lakes unit of the Airstream Club and Jack was also an enthusiastic “84” player.

Jack Kelley’s life wasn’t without its griefs. In addition to surviving Geneva, he outlived three of his sons – Pat, Mike and Steve.“About a month after we buried my third brother, we were out riding around and Dad said, ‘God has blessed me so much – He gave me my sons, and I enjoyed them to the fullest,’” Bill Kelley recalled. “That was a tremendous testimony – he was always thankful instead of having pity for himself.”

Waxahachie City Manager Paul Stevens attended First United Methodist Church with Kelley and recalled his friendliness from the first day Stevens’ family started attending the church.“It’s a tremendous loss for Waxahachie. Dr. Kelley was such a nice man and such a strong Christian,” said Stevens.

Bill Kelley agreed. “His faith was very important to him. He had a strong faith, and a lot of it was because of his heritage,” he said. “If there’s a Rotary Club in Heaven, and a fishing and hunting club, and a Wild Bunch – I think my dad’ll be a card-carrying member.”