Kelly Friesen

Kelly David Friesen

(October 15, 1967 - November 20, 2024)

Captain Kelly David Friesen passed away suddenly, at the age of 57, on November 20, 2024. Kelly is survived by his wife Elisa Hearns Friesen, his brothers Michael and Daniel and his sister Donna. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Kelly had a zest for life and began playing music early on. At the age of twenty he developed a love for flying and took his first solo flight shortly thereafter. Torn between his passion for aviation and music, he set aside his goals for one day becoming a commercial airline pilot to pursue his dreams of playing bass at the highest level.

Kelly played music ranging stylistically from straight ahead jazz and 1920's Dixieland to classical, pop and Rhythm and Blues with such notable performance groups as Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band (1997-2001), the Julliard Symphony Orchestra, and Sister Sledge (We Are Family). His formal training included Classical studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto for bass, piano, voice and theory. He also received 4 years of private instruction from the legendary jazz bassist Ray Brown (1993-1997) and the prominent Classical bassist Homer Mensch. Upon moving to New York in 1993 he firmly established himself as a top sideman and leader, working with jazz greats such as Herb Ellis, Bucky Pizzarelli, Etta Jones, Dick Hyman, Jerome Richardson, Frank Wess and Joe Wilder, to name a few. Some of his credits as sideman and leader in New York City include performances at Town Hall, The Blue Note, Birdland, The Jazz Standard, The 92nd Street Y Jazz Series, JVC Jazz Festival, The Iridium, and The Rainbow Room. Kelly was a highly sought-after sideman, and band leader, performing and recording with many musicians in the New York area. He released two self-produced jazz recordings while in New York, including his 1997 debut "Back In Time" and "Kelly Friesen Sings Songs of Love." An extremely dedicated and versatile musician, Kelly learned the books to allow him to sub on several Broadway shows, including After Midnight, Bullets Over Broadway, Wicked, and even Chicago, a show which demanded that he doubled on the tuba.

In 2003 Kelly met the love of his life, Lisa and they began creating beautiful music together. They performed and created several recordings together, including a 2008 jazz release titled Lisa Hearns, "I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good." They married in 2009 and continued performing in the tri-state area, until the year 2015 when, at the age of 48, Kelly resumed his dreams of pursuing a career in commercial aviation. Within the next year, Kelly took the necessary steps to attain his multi and commercial pilot licenses. Always the over-achiever, and steadfast in pursuit of his goals he began building time to eventually reach ATP and Part 121 flying.

By the year 2018 he was hired on with Republic Airlines as a first officer and continued working for them based out of Newark, NJ. In 2021 Kelly and Lisa moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Captain. He continued to fly as Captain with Republic for several years while commuting to Newark, and other sometimes other bases. In August, 2023 he was hired on by Envoy Airlines as a Direct Entry Captain and awarded a Dallas base, allowing him to be closer to home (more time with Lisa). Kelly experienced a medical emergency while on duty, and died shortly after attending to a maintenance issue. Flight and passenger safety were always his primary concern. He was deeply loved by his wife Lisa, his family, musicians and pilot friends. The tremendous outpouring of love and many offers of support Lisa is receiving is a testament to just how much he will be missed.