Blake Thomas Kelly

Blake Thomas Kelly was born on July 30th, 1994, at the old hospital in Downtown Steamboat Springs. He spent his entire childhood in Routt County, both within the city limits as well as a five-acre parcel north of Willow Creek Pass. By eighth grade, his contagious smile and character stole the show at the Middle School play when he played the Lion of the Wizard of Oz. This love of the performing arts followed him throughout high school and early college, and he played the piano throughout adulthood.
His older sister Samantha also was a big part of his life, including snowmobiling, dirt bike riding and hiking in the Grand Canyon as kids/young adults to razors, snowmobiles, skydiving and dirt biking as adults.
Blake also loved to travel. He had been to Europe three times and Morocco and last October he traveled to Iceland. Earlier in life, at the age of 8, he made the first of three trips to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Blake was impassioned by almost everything he tried and was especially gifted in biology and human affairs. He had a better understanding and compassion for people by his teenage years than a lot of people achieve in a lifetime. His kindness was felt by all whose lives he touched. Never was it more appreciated than by his immediate family.
Blake graduated from Steamboat Springs High School in 2012 and then enrolled with academic scholarships at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. He graduated from Westminster in 2017 with a degree in Aviation Management. Following college, he worked in the credentialing field at CHG in Salt Lake City. He also became involved with a Yoga Studio and this passion to Yoga continued later in Steamboat Springs. Also, while in Salt Lake City he took up indoor climbing and he loved the outdoors, particularly the mountains of Colorado and the Grand Canyon. By August of 2021 he was ready to return home to Routt County. He first worked remotely for CHG but by August of 2022 he was ready to try something different, which he did by working for Routt County Planning until May of this year. He then worked for BTK Surveys, Inc., a company owned by his parents until his untimely passing.
Blake's character was deeply anchored in love, kindness and compassion and he easily made new friends with his brilliant smile and infectious laugh. He will be missed by all the lives he touched. He would tell us to "Be kind to each other" and "Be the light."
A celebration of Blake's life will be held at 10:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m., Saturday, November 16, 2024 at Olympian Hall. The sharing of Blake's memory will begin at 10:30 a.m. After the sharing, please stay and visit the family and share your memories of him.