Charles Albert Kelly

Charles Albert Kelly
Richfield, Utah

Charles (Charlie) Kelly returned home to our Heavenly Father on March 29, 2025. 

Charles was born in Bristol, Virginia to John Howard and Mary Ruth Logan Kelly on September 2, 1939, where he grew up on the family home and farm. Charlie was the oldest son and second oldest of nine children. In his family, Charles was known as “Rusty” for his red hair. His father was an entrepreneur, and a very accomplished mechanic, welder, and machinist, and taught Charlie most of these skills. In 1953, his father moved the family to the west suburban area of Chicago, where his family lived on boats in Willow Springs and Justice.

Charlie moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1957, where he worked in a machine shop and later opened his own mechanic shop and a welding business, among other things. In Albuquerque, he married Sue Rust, and they had three children, Donna, Chuck, and Ruth. For recreation, he raced stock cars.

In 1969, he moved to Chicago and later to Cincinnati, where he worked as a shipbuilder and mechanic. He married Cynthia Chávez, and they had two children, Carlos and Kirse. His hobbies included off-road racing, and he won many trophies in the sport, racing his 1965 CJ5 Jeep, affectionately known as “Freddy”. He also restored a 1967 Jeepster convertible his family named Mariah.

Charlie and his family moved to Wyoming in 1975, where he and Cynthia raised Carlos and Kirse. In Wyoming, he worked as Equipment Superintendent at Arch Mineral Coal Mines. He enjoyed Hobie Catamaran sailboat racing on freshwater lakes and reservoirs throughout the Rocky Mountain region. 

Charlie moved to Alaska in 1989, where he worked in the oil and mineral industries. He married Antonia Thompson, and helped raise her son, David Beverly. Loving boating, he sailed a trimaran on the Pacific Ocean off Alaska.

He married Margalynn George in 2006 and retired. They traveled across the country, visiting family and friends and spent a few years in Florida, where they made several voyages down Florida's Gulf Coast to Miami and the Bahamas on their monohull sailboat, The Kelly Girl. They settled in Central Valley, Utah, where he became close with her five grown children, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In 2024, after Margalynn’s death, he married Mary Kunz—they met at a Senior Center Tuesday Dance in 2023. They traveled extensively, taking a motorhome road trip across the country in 2024 from Richfield to Florida, stopping at various places along the way to meet family and friends. They married in August and took care of each other until his death.

Charlie was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attended the Community Presbyterian Church in Richfield with Mary. He volunteered to assist in countless projects—fixing, building, and solving problems wherever he was needed. Throughout his life, he was focused on helping people—from a stranger on the side of the road who was having car trouble, to plowing snow on dirt roads in Wyoming, to helping out with projects wherever and with whomever he found himself, he was always trying to help.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Margalynn, two daughters, Donna and Ruth, and five sisters, all members of the Christian faith. He is survived by many loving family members, including his wife, Mary, his eldest son, Chuck Tenbroek and Chuck’s wife, Nancy, and his mother, Sue; his son, Carlos Kelly and Carlos’ wife, Jane, and his daughter Kirse Kelly, and their mother, Cynthia; his brothers John and Eager Kelly, and his sister, Betty Dean; two granddaughters and a great grandson, his stepson, David Beverly, and numerous stepchildren and step-grandchildren from Margalynn’s and Mary’s families.

Graveside services will be Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 11:00 am at the Monroe City Cemetery. There will be a viewing Friday, April 4, 2025 from 6:00 - 7:00 pm at Magleby Mortuary in Richfield. Funeral Directors: Magleby Mortuary, Richfield, Salina and Manti. Online guestbook www.maglebymortuary.com