Much loved husband, dad, and grandfather, Ben Kelley, 77 of North Belle Vernon (formerly of Donora) rejoined his late family and friends in heaven on January 16, 2010, following complications from a stroke suffered in May 2008.  His alert and bright, blue eyes are now closed, but we are comforted by the assurance of future reunion.  He was born during a severe snow storm on March 11, 1932, near Masontown, West Virginia, where his parents, Carlos and Olive Kelley, had temporarily returned after layoffs from the Donora wire mill during the Depression.  The family soon afterward moved back to the Donora (Carroll Township) area where he lived the remainder of his life (until moving to North Belle Vernon in 2007).  He is survived by his second wife, the former Joni Wassilchalk of North Belle Vernon--his first wife Dolores (Gula) Kelley having passed away in 1999--and two sons, Jon (Alyssa) Kelley of Greensburg, PA, and Jim (Lori) Kelley of Beavercreek, OH.  He has four grandchildren, Jonathan, Leah, Ian, and Owen Kelley.  He is also survived by his favorite (and only) brother, Miles (Pat) Kelley of Fellsburg, PA.  Other relatives still reside in the Mon Valley, Arizona, North Carolina, and West Virginia.

Ben was a longtime member of Sampson-Union church in Eldora and had put his trust in Jesus during his school years, though more recently he had been attending Olive Branch Baptist Church in Belle Vernon.  A 1950 graduate of Donora High School, he found early work digging ditches and reading water meters with the Donora Water Company, but from the mid 1960s until retirement had been successfully employed at designing department stores and commercial buildings around the country.  One of his earliest efforts was designing portions of the original Joseph Horne department store at the (then) new South Hills Village Mall.  Ben was blessed with remarkable artistic ability--oils, carving, sculpture, and particularly water color--that he expressed from an early age and continued to develop through high school.  In the early 1950s he briefly attended Carnegie Tech where he took art classes for a semester then continued painting and sculpting on his own in the years to come.  Though acknowledged for his art work, he wasn’t particularly known for his adept business decisions and in later years he reminisced laughingly at his decision to reject a personal offer of employment from a Bentonville, Arkansas, entrepreneur with big ideas for a national chain of discount stores.  He especially enjoyed following the Steelers and Mountaineer football.  In addition to his remarkable ability to express himself artistically, he will be remembered as being very generous with his time and money.  We also publically thank Joni for taking care of him during the tough times.

Friends and relatives will be received Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. in the James C. Stump Funeral Home Inc., 580 Circle Drive, Belle Vernon/Rostraver Township (724-929-7934) www.jamesstumpfuneralhome.com where a funeral service will be held on Wednesday, January 20 at 10:00 a.m. with the Rev. Frank J. DePolo and Rev. D. W. Norton co-officiating.  Interment will follow in the Mon Valley Memorial Park.

info@jamesstumpfuneralhome.com

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