Chester E. Kelley, 80, of Willoughby, passed away Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, at The Cleveland Clinic.
Born May 7, 1937, in Cleveland, he had been a Lake County resident for the past 30 years.
Mr. Kelley was a retired employee of Ohio Bell Telephone Company, where he worked as a splicing technician and linesman. He had also worked and retired from Laketran, and taught student driving for five years.
He loved baseball and playing softball for many years, coached Little League Baseball, and was a HUGE fan of the Cleveland Indians. Chet enjoyed bowling in several leagues, and loved the outdoors and writing music. Three songs he wrote were, “Time Won’t Let Me,” by the Outsiders, which hit #5 on the hit charts in 1966, and was used on the soundtrack in the 1994 movie, “Timecop,” “Girl in Love,” and “Was It Really Real.” Chet was also a member of the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Chet was the beloved husband of 50 years to Joyce J. (nee Nardi) Kelley; loving father of Kim (Rev. Steven) Sespico, Timothy (Ronnie) Kelley, James (Teressa) Kelley, Anne (Sissay) Hailu, Chester (Jerri) Kelley Jr., Christopher Kelley, Colleen Kelley (Todd Hargis), and Monica (Bryan) Nelson; cherished grandfather of Michael, Danae, Rochelle, Tim Jr., Justin, James, Christopher, Lukas, Bryce, Haden, Isaac, Silas, Evan, Ella, Judith, Carter and Hadley; great-grandfather of Rylan, Victoria, Janice, Abigail, Emma, Israel, Moriah, Zebediah, Preston, Kourtnie, Jorden and Alexis; brother, Charles (Winnie) Kelley; and uncle of nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his son, Patrick Kelley; parents, Edward and Ella (nee Blackwell) Pridgeon; and siblings, William Kelley, Edna (Russ, dec.) Keller, Ginny Reitzal, and Cheryl (Tom, dec.) King.
Family will receive friends from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday at The Abbey of Willoughby, 38011 Euclid Ave. (located on the grounds of McMahon-Coyne-Vitantonio Funeral Home), in Willoughby, with a celebration of life at 6 p.m. (*Please note time of service.)
To leave condolences for the family, order flowers or light a memorial candle, visit www.MCVfuneralhomes.com.