After 99 remarkable years, our dear friend Col. Tom Kelly has flown home to his final roost.
He was a veteran of two wars and a pioneer in Alabama forestry before the turkey hunting world knew his name. At age 46, at his wife Helen’s urging, he finally immortalized the cult of old school turkey hunters. His Tenth Legion galvanized the culture and went on to become one of the bestselling and most beloved hunting books ever written. For decades after, he captivated the turkey hunting world with woodsmanship and wit in books and in columns everywhere from Field & Stream to Sports Illustrated.
This spring, the frost will finally begin to fade. The dogwoods will wake from winter with thoughts of blooming. The wise old owl will call good morning to the woods around him. And an old longbeard will stand tall on the limb and stick his neck out. For the first time in 100 years, he’ll shout to the woods the return of the season without Col. Tom Kelly around to feel it.
A Message from Tom Kelly's Daughter Laura Kelly Bates:
"This weekend, we lost one of the greatest of the greatest generation: Tom Kelly. The Colonel. Daddy to me. And Ol’ Tom to his grandchildren.
No words can express what he has meant to me, to our family, our friends, to his troops, and to his loyal legion of followers in the turkey hunting community.
He was 99. That sounds old for a man, but for Tom Kelly, you could almost believe he would live forever. This was a man who killed his last turkey three weeks shy of his 96th birthday.
Who skipped Kindergarten and had his first library card at the age of four.
Who entered the Navy at 17, against the wishes of his mother, to become a tail gunner in World War II. And later served 30 years in the army, rising to the rank of Colonel.
Who played minor league baseball, spent more than 50 years in the timber industry, sculpted, built beautiful furniture, and wrote 30 books including Tenth Legion.
He was as comfortable quoting Shakespeare as he was talking to saw hands. And despite all of his talents and accomplishments, he was grounded and self-deprecating.
He was just as likely to tell a story about something stupid he did as he was to weave a great hunting tale. He had a kind heart, a generous spirit, a wicked sense of humor, and a sharp tongue.
While he wasn’t able to get into the turkey woods these last few years, the letters, emails, calls, and outreach from those who loved him and his writing sustained him. Our family is so appreciative for each and every one of you.
My dad wrote a chapter in Faces in the Crowd called "An Afternoon on the Handles" about serving as a pallbearer to carry the coffin at his best friend’s funeral.
He wrote, 'While the load itself is not in the least heavy, the path was rough. In my own particular case, there was an additional load. I carried, besides my share of the coffin, the weight of 42 years of memories piled on top of the box. A 42-year collection of memories, even those of the lightest and most joyful occasions, weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of a ton-and-a-half.'
I know how he felt. I’m feeling the weight of 58 years of priceless memories with my dad. And I know his friends and followers in the Tenth Legion are carrying the weight of their own memories with him as well.
Tom Kelly was truly one of a kind. Irreplaceable. And we will miss him dearly."
-Laura Kelly Bates
Watch Mossy Oak's documentary on the Colonel Tom Kelly and Mr. Fox Haas--two of the greatest men from the greatest generation.
