Boyd Kelly

Boyd Kelly age 100 of Waverly, IA, formerly of Plainfield, IA, died Monday, October 7, 2019, at the Shell Rock Healthcare Center. Funeral Services will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 11, 2019, at St. John Lutheran Church in Nashua with Rev. Charis Combs - Lay officiating. Interment will be held in Willow Lawn Cemetery, Plainfield with Brad Poppe, Brian Poppe, Lance Poppe, Mike Kelly, Patrick Kelly, and Steve Koob serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers are Brynn Poppe, Jackson Poppe, Bethany Poppe, Tracy Kelly, Ashley Hatcher, Jacob Poppe, Amanda Horne, Brandon Poppe, Bryce Poppe, Hunter Poppe, Samantha Poppe, Aaron Pearson, Paige Myers, Austin Kelly, and Andrew Kelly. Friends may greet the family from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Thursday, October 10, 2019, at Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory - Olson Chapel in Nashua. Visitation continues an hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. Boyd Kelly was born on Jan. 5, 1919 to Glen and Alice (Gilliand) Kelly in Barron, Wisconsin, a small town in the northwestern part of the state. He and his five siblings grew up on a farm near Barron, and he came of age in a tumultuous time, as the Great Depression began when he was 10 years old and the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor less than a month before he turned 22. Like many in that era, Boyd attended school just through the eighth grade before he went to work. His family moved to the Plainfield area, and because he was blind in one eye, he was exempted from military service during World War II. Boyd was a hard worker and worked for Roach’s Elevator in Plainfield before becoming the director of an elevator in Hudson and then held the same position at an elevator in Jesup. He eventually took a job as a butter churner at Mississippi Valley, now known as Land O Lakes, in Cedar Falls. He closed out his working career at Viking Pump in Cedar Falls. On Jan. 21, 1942, he married the love of his life, a beautiful woman named Ida Koob. They had three children — Richard, Janet and Ron — and the younger Kellys remember their father as an easy-going man who rarely got angry and loved to take his wife and children on camping trips. The Kellys “roughed it” as they camped in tents; in fact, Boyd and Ida didn’t get a camper until after the children were off on their own. In 1984, he retired and the couple traveled more and among the trips they took were visits to Canada, Hawaii, and Alaska. Boyd also loved to golf, and he didn’t get hung up on his score for he loved just the fellowship he found on the golf course and in the clubhouse. He also loved sports — baseball being his favorite — and his two favorite teams were the Atlanta Braves in the summer and the Green Bay Packers in the fall. And although a majority of his grandchildren didn’t live all that close to him, he cherished spending time with them and, every now and then, spoiling them as well. He was a remarkably healthy man throughout his life; in fact, the only health scare he really had was a bypass surgery in 1990 but he rebounded nicely and continued to golf and travel well into his 80s. In 2010, he lost the love of his life when Ida passed away at the age of 90, but he continued to live in his own apartment at Waverly Manor right up until the last two months of his life. Boyd, who was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Nashua, was a faithful man throughout his life, and he told his children “if you can stay out late Saturday night, you can get up early Sunday morning to go to church.” Today, he is reunited with Ida, and he will be missed dearly by his family and friends. Boyd is survived by two sons, Richard (Linda) Kelly of Camdenton, MO, Ron (Debra) Kelly of New Bern, NC; one daughter, Janet (Larry) Poppe of Plainfield, IA; eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Ida in 2010; four brothers, Emery Kelly, Alton Kelly, Calvin (Joyce) Kelly, Wayne Kelly; one sister, Elaine Kelly.