Kelly's funeral

I've decided there's one thing I really hate about funerals. That's when I find out all the really neat things about a person, and it's too late to do anything about it.

The funeral for Frank Kelly Freas was held at Kingsley and Gates Mortuary in a small chapel with seating for 100. The people at the mortuary had to bring in extra seats to accommodate the crowd. As Jerry Pournelle notes on his web page, Kelly had no enemies that anyone knew of. He had many, many friends.

His art is well known, and will be missed by millions who haver had the chance to meet the artist in person. His skill was legendery, and deserved to be even more so. One story that was told about him was that he didn't find out about the invention of the air brush until some time after it was invented.

One day, he saw some art where the control of the paint and shading was exquisite. He decided he was starting to fall behind. He went to his studio and worked until he was able to duplicate it to his satisfaction.

Then he learned about this new tool called an airbrush...

He loved his work, and brought to it the care and devotion any lover should bring to his beloved.

Kelly was a neat person. Of course, to have had a person as neat as Laura fall in love with him, he had to be pretty special.

In the sixteen and a half years they were married, they never exchanged a cross word. And this gentle nature was not reserved for his family, it was bestowed upon everyone he met, regardless of status or station. Indeed, it speaks well of him that he made it a point to treat his family with at least as much respect as he would a stranger.

He leaves behind a family, and a world, that returns to him all the love he had for everyone around him.