Obituary

Beloved husband, dad, granddaddy and great-granddaddy Mitchell Kelley, 79, awoke Wednesday morning, Aug. 15, 2007, in the arms of his Savior Jesus Christ, as Jesus welcomed him home. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007, at College Heights Baptist Church with the Rev. Don Robertson officiating and Colquitt Nash assisting. Burial will follow in Plainview Memorial Park by Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Plainview. Mitchell was a resident of Prairie House Living Center in Plainview where he and his wife, Margie, had resided for a year and a half. He had been with Area Community Hospice for the last few months. Mitchell was born to parents Eva Lena Powers and Thomas Kelley in Runnels County on Oct. 24, 1927. He later moved to West Texas where he met and married Margie Peterson in 1946. While in Plainview, he was a carpenter and owned a radiator shop with his brother, T.A. Kelley. In 1965, he, Margie and their two sons moved from Plainview to Arkansas where they farmed. Although he had many talents, Mitchell loved picking his banjo or strumming his guitar or mandolin as he sang gospel music and country classics with family and friends. Mitchell touched many lives with his strength and strong will, as he never gave up under the most trying of circumstances. His sense of humor and love for others was known by all around him. He had a nickname for just about every person he knew, and he was called "Mr. French" and "The General" by many of his nurses. Mitchell will be missed greatly by all who knew and loved him. He fought the long battle and now he walks with Jesus. Mitchell is survived by his wife; three children, Judy Enos of Plainview, Dwayne Kelley of Little Rock, Ark., and David Kelley of West Fork, Ark. He had four grandchildren, LenEll Kelley, Misty Shultz, Lacey Henson and Park Kelley; and one great-granddaughter, Amelie Hatch, who came into the world the day before his death. Pallbearers will be Billy Shugart, Barron Shultz, Bryon Duggan, Park Kelley, Leo Gonzales and Colquitt Nash.