John Joseph Kelly, 79, Mesa, Arizona and formerly of Minot, died Sunday, January 21, 2007 at his home in Mesa.

John was born May 4, 1927 at Woodside, New York, the son of John and Elsie (Eisenhardt) Kelly. He was raised in the Long Island area and entered into active duty service with the U.S. Navy during World War II.

John received his honorable discharge and began his professional baseball career, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cleveland Indians and several minor league clubs. He played for the Minot Mallards for a few years until an injury cut his playing career short.

John was united in marriage to Delores Hustad Storlie on June 6, 1961.They continued to make their home in Minot, where he was employed at the American Legion Club and later the Elks Club. He also drove truck for Mover's Inc.John enjoyed watching his son's play for local teams as they grew up. He had coached Legion baseball for a few years prior to his leaving Minot.John and Delores left Minot in 1986 for Anaheim, California and retired in 1994 to Mesa, AZ.Delores died December 27, 2002.

John was a member of the Minot American Legion Post #26 and Elks Lodge #1089. He was one of the founding members of the local World War II Last Man's Club and enjoyed bowling and had participated in the Grand league at North Hill Bowl.

His loving family includes : sons; Kevin (Roxy) Kelly, Minot and Dennis Kelly, Canon City, CO; Granddaughter: Nichelle Kelly; Sisters-i-law: Maria Kelly, Woodside, NY, and Lucille Storlie, Bullhead City, AZ.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, brother, Tom Kelly and brother in law: Vern Storlie.

Memorial Service : Friday, February 2, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. in Thomas Family Funeral Home, Minot.
Visitation : Thursday from noon - 5:00 p.m. in the Thomas Family Funeral Home, Minot.
Memorials are preferred to the Magic City Youth Baseball Organization.