Dear Proud to Be ’83,

It is with much sadness that I pass on news of Danny Kellas’ passing on 9 December.  Address for donations is:

7605 Summerwood Lane, Charlotte, NC  28270

Here is Danny's USMA Eulogy Page

 

Daniel Bruce Kellas

 

Danny Kellas, 47, of Charlotte, went to be with the Lord

Tuesday afternoon, December 9, 2008.

 

Danny’s immediate family includes his parents,

Mr. and Mrs. Carter and Terry Kellas of Winchester, VA;

his wife,Barbara Kellas of Charlotte;

his children, Brian Stevens of Fayetteville, NC,

Sarah Kellas and Matthew Kellas of Charlotte;

his sisters, Elizabeth Burton and Susan Hill both of Winchester, VA

 

As previous Chairman of the Board of Lake Park Christian Academy,

it is only appropriate to come together to remember Danny at a place he loved so dear.

    A celebration of Danny’s life was held:

3:00 PM Friday

December 12, 2008

Central Academy at Lake Park

3624 Lake Park Rd.

Indian Trail, NC 28079

 

As a member of Elevation Church,

Danny’s pastor, Larry Brey officiated.

 

The family casually greeted friends following the service.

 

In lieu of flowers,

Church members, neighbors, and loved ones have asked that

all who can, please remember the Kellas’ through financial support

as they reconstruct their lives from this untimely loss.

 

For friends and family in the Winchester, VA area that cannot travel to NC:

A celebration of Danny’s will also be held there at a date to be announced.

 

 

************************Subsequent emails ********************************

 

Bandits,

 

I want to give you an update on Danny’s Memorial Service.

 JJ and I attended the Memorial  Service for Danny at the Braddock Street United Methodist Church in his home town of Winchester, VA.  It was a very moving service.  The church was filled and JJ remarked that it was fortunate that we arrived early.  It was truly standing room only.  There was no sermon given by a minister but as you can see from the program Danny’s Aunt, two best friends from high school and sisters gave very moving tributes to Danny.  Some were funny and some were serious but they all had a similar theme in that Danny never met a stranger.

 After the service JJ and I attended a reception at the home of Danny’s sister Beth.  At the reception JJ and I had a chance to meet all of Danny’s family including his son and daughter.  

 

Additionally, the family has requested that contributions are made to the Danny Kellas Children’s Education Fund at Summit Bank, 100 W. Jubal Early Drive, Winchester, VA 22601 to the attention of Steven Tavenner.  If we want to contribute as a class I am more than happy to collect and send to the fund.  If we want to give individually you have the address.

 JT

 

This can help:
 

 

Mark Connors asked Johnny and me today if we could write Danny's obituary for the Assembly magazine.  I agreed on our behalf so if you all can start thinking of material we can use to incorporate into a first draft, can you please pass along?  We'll reach out to his family and friends.

Thanks

JJ

JT,

 

Great summary.  I'll admit I shed a couple of tears during the very moving service.  If I may I'd like to add a couple things…

All (Danny's parents, sisters, family and friends) were extremely happy that Johnny and I could attend and represent USMA and, specifically, his classmates and company mates.  We passed on to everyone we talked to that we were representing all of his friends from '83 and B-3 who were not able to attend.  We relayed that word of Danny's passing was slow to get out to the general West Point community as it was such a shock but we were helping to spread the news to all his many friends and they would most likely hear from others.  Danny's mom told us she received a call from our classmate Chuck McGould, who was married to Danny's sister Beth for a while, and thanked us repeatedly for attendi! ng and representing West Point.  His West Point years and accomplishments were repeatedly mentioned during the ceremony remembrances.

There weren't a lot of additional details provided around the cause of Danny's death.  Pretty much still a mystery – acute abdominal pains which drove him to go to the hospital, some quick surgery (thought he had an aneurysm in his torso) to address the issue, was awake and sitting up after surgery, then suddenly lapsed into a coma from which he never responded.

Danny was truly a star in the small town of Winchester as attested to the number of people attending yesterday.  Recently (think in September or October of this year) he was inducted into his high school's athletic Hall of Fame – captain of his tennis team, after only picking up a tennis racket for the first time his freshman year and without any formal tennis instruction, that won state tit! les his junior and senior year.  We heard it was one of the highlights of his life in recent years and no one smiled brighter during the ceremonies.  Johnny provided the program in his earlier message which includes a picture of Danny and his two best friends from high school during the Hall of Fame ceremonies.  Both friends, Boots and Steve, gave very moving tributes to Danny yesterday.

Johnny and I are tentatively planning on attending the Winchester Apple Blossom Festival during the first week in May.  I remember Danny fondly talking about it and saying you have to attend some time.  Pretty big deal for Winchester when the year 'round 20K population swells to 250K that week.  Danny's parents and sisters asked that we contact them if we were going to attend so we could get together again.  As we get closer we'll reach out to everyone, particularly those who are in the DC area at the time (Winchester is! about an hour and 15 minutes or so from the VA side of the Beltway) to see who'd like to attend and meet Danny's family.

All the best to everyone in 2009.

JJ

	This is a pdf of Danny's Memorial Service Pamphlet