Steven Lavon Kelly

Steven Lavon Kelly passed away the evening of March 11th, 2022 at the age of 75 at Palomar Medical Center in Poway, California surrounded by his wife and daughter. His immediate cause of death was septic shock.
Steve was born in Silverton Hospital in Oregon on Wednesday October 23, 1946 to Mildred Melva and Willis Winford Kelly. For the first few days of his life, he was Douglas Eugene Kelly however his father returned from the saw mill and said no to that name. They changed it by actually crossing it out on the birth certificate and writing in Steven Lavon.
He graduated in 1964 from Silverton High School and then joined the Navy in July that same year. He was a radioman/radio operator with top secret crypto clearance and his specialty was teletype maintenance/repairman. During his fourteen-year Navy career Steve's travels took him to many places. He covered from the top of the equator to the bottom. He started out in Alaska Aleutian Islands, went to Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam. He was stationed on the USS Isle Royal (AD-29). In Vietnam he was boots on the ground, boots on the water. The place he spoke of most often was the year he spent in Antarctica participating in "Operation Deep Freeze". Many other countries he was fortunate to see during his travels over the years included Newfoundland, Christchurch New Zealand, Japan and Fiji. When Steve was honorably discharged from the Navy in December of 1978, he was a Chief E-7. Received Good Conduct Medal, Antarctica Service Medal with winter over bronze clasp, Vietnam Service Medal and National Defense Service Medal. He attended Palomar College in California and in August of 1974 he received an Associate's degree in Advertising, Marketing and Merchandising.
Over the years Steve worked at a few different companies including Teletype corporation a subsidiary of AT&T where he met his wife in 1982, then Microsoft and FIS. He was at FIS for 20 years where he eventually retired at the age of 70 as a UNIX system administrator in November of 2016. He and his wife were married for almost 37 years. They were married on Saturday, June 1st 1985 in the Silverton Oregon Park.
Since retiring he became a life member of the Poway VFW. He loved fishing, classic cars, puzzles, was a raiders fan, and loved his dog Miss Maddie. In fact, he loved all dogs and wanted to adopt them all.
Steve is survived by his wife Angelina (Angie) Anna Kelly. His daughter and son-in-law Michelle Anne and Edward Garcia, sons and daughters-in-law Michael Donovan and Samantha Rae Kelly, Matthew David Cyr and Deborah Suzette Montanez-Cyr. Grandchildren Marisa Anne Treadway, her husband Zachary Scott Treadway, Jessica Marie Honarvar, her husband Isaac James Honarvar, Heather Anne Kelly, Christian Edward Garcia, Rebecca Lynn Kelly, Sofia Luna Cyr, Micah Jayden Cyr, Great Grandchildren Arianna Lee Treadway, Ezra James Garcia, Ava Marie Honarvar, sister Patty Bittner, sister- in-law Rae Kelly, sister-in-law Jacqueline Marie Jones, niece Emma Renae Jones, his loving dog Miss Maddie and many other extended family and friends.
Memorial Services will be held at Miramar National Cemetery 5795 Nobel Drive San Diego, CA 92122 on Tuesday April 26th at 1:00 p.m. This will be his final resting place. A gathering will follow services at the Hop Stop in Poway, California.
Steve will live in our hearts and through our many memories. He will be deeply missed.