James Owens Kelley, known to his friends as Jamie, passed away August 4th at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, the result of a long illness. He was surrounded by friends and family who traveled hundreds of miles through the night to be by his side. He is survived by Shawn Kemberling-Kelley, his wife of fifteen years; six-year-old twin boys Jax and Croix; mother Charlene Flood-Johnson; father and second mother Ivan and Vi Kelley; sister and brother-in-law Monica and Sonny Hasvold; brother and sister-in-law Rusty and Patty Holiday; nephews Dacotah and Wyatt Hasvold; sister-in-law Charmaine Kemberling; donor sister Margie St Croix and family; along with many aunts, uncles, cousins, great nephew, and friends.
Born June 28, 1966 in San Francisco on a military base, his father, Ivan, was a Marine on his way to Vietnam. After Ivan’s deployment, his mother, Charlene, returned to Lawrence where Jamie was raised and lived most of his life. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1984 and attended the University of Kansas, ultimately graduating from Haskell Indian Nations University with a Bachelors Degree in Business.
Jamie lived a truly remarkable life. Upon meeting him, you would learn that he was half Native American, half Irish and intensely proud of his heritage. He was a raucous force of nature. He lived hard and loved hard with a passion seeded deep in the marrow of his bones that would infect all those he touched. Jamie was larger than life, with an undeniable presence everyone felt. He was an instant friend to those fortunate enough to cross his path. For many, he became a best friend. He was constantly challenging people to be better. Any coarseness in his character was softened by an inherent sense of right and wrong. Jamie was at once mischievious, dangerous, kind, loyal, loving, thoughtful, considerate, but above all generous.
Jamie and Shawn Kemberling were married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony on a ranch outside of Lawrence in 2000. Jamie was so excited when, upon giving their vows, he looked up to see an eagle circling in the sky above them. He took it as a blessing on their union- an auspicious sign. Jax and Croix, the loves of his life were born on June 26th, 2009 two days before Jamie’s 43rd birthday. He affectionately referred to them as “the twinadoes”, for good reason because they are wild and rambunctious like their dad. Jamie was an amazing father. He taught his boys to be polite and considerate. He was patient, parenting with thoughtfulness and love, understanding that boys will be boys, always challenging them to learn and grow. He wanted nothing more than to see his boys into manhood.
Throughout his hardships, Jamie was and remains the most positive person any of us ever knew. He never complained about the hand he’d been dealt. Instead, he wore each of his challenges as a badge of honor, proof of his strength and perserverence. His generosity was boundless and he was constantly an example to us to be and to give more. He was such a good friend and, in turn, taught us to be better friends, to live our lives to the fullest.
When Shawn announced his death she wrote simply, “Jamie is in the stars…”. Jamie was agnostic. His spirituality was rooted firmly in Native traditions, in nature, in the earth and the sky. He believed we never truly die, that our matter and energy are conserved and converted into something else, continuing on for eternity. Jamie will live forever in our hearts, kept alive through the stories we will share, forever in the heavens where we will fondly look to remember him.
A celebration of Jamie’s life will be Saturday September 5th at the family home, 530 N 955 Rd Lawrence, KS. Guests are welcome anytime after 1:00 pm with his rememberance at 3:00 pm.
At the behest of friends a memorial fund has been established: James Kelley Memorial Fund, C/O Central National Bank, 711 Wakarusa Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049.
