Kelly Owen Slade

My earliest memory of Kelly was his baseball card scrapbook that met the requirement for a Boy Scout merit badge. The cards were glued into place, a desecration to me since you couldn't see the backs, not to mention the cards couldn't be handled, let alone traded. He broke his leg around that time.  To compensate for his lack of mobility when we played backyard basketball he was allowed to wave a crutch around the basket to block shots. As with the Preeces our families paralleled kid-wise--Kelly and I were oldest followed by brothers two years younger and also good friends, then younger sisters.  Kelly's wonderful mother Mell was best friends with my mom, and the families would go on outings together, mainly water skiing at Lake Mead.  He married into an influential family that helped him launch his political career after law school.  Running for re-election as justice of the peace in fall, 1982 the event coincided with my first marriage as performed by his father Virgil, a LDS bishop.  Kelly hilariously showed up at our backyard reception wearing a prominent campaign button, went around shaking hands with everybody.  I heard his opponent started slinging mud which cost Kelly the election. Kelly and Mell attended my mother's 2013 funeral. I was pleased to chat with them, encouraged him to start attending our class reunions (the web site was not in place yet).  He never did, no idea the reason.  The main thing about Kelly--he was in favor of having a good time, always in positive spirits.