John William Kelley

John (Bill) William Kelley, at the age of 89, passed away at home on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Born at home on October 3, 1934, in Fraser, Michigan to the late Nannie (Adams) and George Kelley. He attended Cady Corners Elementary school, Fraser Middle School, and Fraser High School. While attending Fraser High School he was a 3-sport athlete, earning 3 letters in baseball and 2 letters in both football and basketball. He was preceded in death by his siblings Vernon (Toddy) Kelley, Margie (Louie) Johnston, Jimmy (Jean) Kelley, Betty (Lyle) Matkin, and Tom (Norma) Kelley. In 1954 Bill joined the U.S. Army and was sent to Stuttgart, Germany until 1956. Education was extremely important to Bill. He diligently worked his way through his undergraduate program in 3 years (1957-1960) earning his B.S. in Mathematics from Michigan State University. One of his proudest moments was graduating from Michigan State University, being the first in his family to graduate from college. He continued his education and earned an M.S. in Mathematics Education in 1966 from the University of Detroit He began his teaching career at Chippewa Junior High in 1961 where he taught math for 20 years. While there he was voted “favorite teacher” by the students 15 times. He also coached football while at Chippewa and had at least one undefeated season. In 1981 he transferred to Lakeview H.S. where he continued to teach math for another 15 years until he retired in 1996. He was awarded “Educator of the Year” for the district in 1984. He continued coaching football at the high school from 1981-1984. In 1984 he was given the opportunity to coach golf (the second most important thing to him next to his family) from 1985-1998. His first two seasons of coaching golf were less than stellar but beginning in 1990 his dedication paid off. The team’s record from 1990-1998 was 103-18-2! They won League Championships in ’94, ’95, ’97 (undefeated season), and ’98. He was voted the Macomb Area “Coach of the Year” during those seasons as well. He was also voted “Regional Coach of the Year” in 1998. He was not only good at coaching golf, but he also personally had 3 holes-in-one, 7 Eagles, shot an 18-hole score of 69, a 9-hole score of 33 and at least 100 scores in the 70’s! Bill was blissfully married to his beloved wife Lois (Peters) for 63 wonderful years. Together they raised their children Timothy (Cheryl) Kelley and Kimberly (Michael, deceased) Allen. He was a proud grandfather to Mackenzie (Dan) DiTomaso, Matthew Kelley, Alexa Kelley, Andrew Allen, Emily Allen and William Allen. In his retirement he and Lois had many wonderful years wintering in Florida. He loved going to the beach and golfing in the warm Florida sun. When not out in the sun he could be found playing cards with friends and family, not many days went by that he and Lois did not play a game of Gin Rummy. His children and grandchildren have many fond memories of cards around the kitchen table. A Memorial Visitation will be held at Wujek-Calcaterra & Sons, 36900 Schoenherr, Sterling Heights, Michigan on June 8, 2024, from 2:30 – 7:00 p.m., with a prayer service being held at 6:00 pm. Burial will be at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan on June 10, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers memorial tributes in Bill’s honor may be made out to the American Kidney Fund, www.kidneyfund.org. Share memories with the family at their "On-Line Guest Book" @ WujekCalcaterra.com.

John William Kelley

October 3, 1934 - May 18, 2024