Attended school at Lenox Community Elementary and Lenox Community High School. His father worked alongside Kelly’s grandfather in his shop, ‘Brown’s Garage’ and then his fathers shop Brown's Services that focused on vehicle / farm equipment / home appliance repair, along with other repairs to or construction of buildings, grain elevators, egg processing plant, pretty much any thing desired by the consumer tasks. Kelly joined his father and grandfather in the shop around age 6, acquiring new knowledge and experience every day. By age 8, Kelly was repairing lawn mowers, learning to weld, and driving tractors around his grandfather’s farm. At 10, he built his own mini-bike, soon to be followed by a go-kart and several other projects he refers to as “experimental but fun!”

When Kelly graduated from high school in 1973, he went to work as a welder for the Lenox Division of Hoover Ball Bearing Tote Systems. There he redesigned the construction methods of several fertilizer sprayer tanks, increasing production from 3 to 10 tanks a day and earning Kelly his first professional recognition as a ‘Top Welder’ for Tote Systems.

At 19 Kelly joined the Navy, where he spent the next 27 years 6 months and 29 days earning countless awards and medals. In 1977, he was selected as ‘Sailor of the Month and Sailor of the Quarter’, an achievement that he repeated in 1984, and again in 1985 when he was named ‘Sailor of the Year’. During a career that took him across the globe, he became a Master Training Specialist (the military’s equivalent of a teaching degree), was a ‘Plank Owner’ twice (meaning he was on the first crew assigned to a new ship), functioned as the Quality Assurance Division Officer, and even became a Command Senior Chief (a senior position that gave him a direct line to the Commanding Officer). His last assignments were as the Maintenance Control Master Chief in 2 Commands.

As if his appointments weren’t impressive enough, Kelly also earned the, Meritorious Service Medal, 4 Navy Commendation Medals, 2 Navy Achievement Medals, 6 Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Medal, the Southeast Asia Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

Sadly, an injury to his wrist and hand followed by surgery forced him to retire in July 2002. He now lives with his wife, Maria, (known as ZENAIDA) in the Philippines. They have a farm where they have several animals, rice plants, and coconut trees. Kelly is very active in the community, in his church, and, of course, on FixYa. Kelly says “I enjoy helping others and saving them money in the process. I honestly feel that it is my responsibility to pass on my learned experience and knowledge that others so graciously passed on to me.”