GORDON KELLY

FORT WORTH -- Gordon Brooks Kelly Sr., a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, great-uncle, friend and physician to so many grateful patients, passed away peacefully in his home of 50 years on Friday morning, June 29, 2012. Service: 3 p.m Thursday, July 5, in the Marty Leonard Chapel at Lena Pope Home, 3131 Sanguinet St. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, consideration of contributions to Tarrant Area Food Bank, Performing Arts Fort Worth or charity of your choice, in his memory, is suggested. Born Sept. 11, 1925, in Mexia, Gordon attended public schools in Fort Worth before heading to Phillips Academy Andover for high school. He left for college before graduating, attended Northwestern University where he was a Kappa Sigma fraternity and where he met the love of his life, Joan Elizabeth Perkins. He enlisted in the U.S. Army while still in college, serving as an infantryman in both Europe and the Pacific before the war ended, and on return to the United States reunited with his dear Joan to marry her in 1947 in Rockford, Ill., on June 22. He enrolled as a first-year medical student at Tulane University, and the young couple moved to New Orleans, La. They welcomed their first child, Joan Paige, in 1949, and four more children in the years to come: Gordon Brooks Kelly Jr. in 1951 in Denver, Colo., where Gordon was an intern; Robert Hart, Kelly and Allan Rowan Kelly in 1955 in Fort Worth, where he went into practice after residency at Hines General Hospital in Chicago, Ill., and a year of general practice in Hot Springs, Ark., and Todd Perkins Kelly in Fort Worth in 1963, where Gordon practiced medicine until his retirement in 1992. He devoted his life to his family and care of the sick. Joan and Gordon lived a full and rewarding life in Fort Worth where work, community and family defined their home and life. They also traveled all over the world, played bridge with their friends and celebrated holidays with the Kelly/Ryan/Perkins/Conklin families in Fort Worth and Illinois over the years. He and Joan and their kids and families went as often as possible to Marble, Colo., to hike, relax and revel in the glory of his adored Rocky Mountains. Gordon was a widely respected and revered internal medicine doctor, his practice over the years serving many thousands of patients - often of several generations. His service to our fine hospitals from emergency call to medical staff positions enriched our community. He was a member of many clubs and organizations, professional and social, and he provided charity medical care for those in need. House calls were common, rounds were twice daily: he was a true professional. His first office on Pennsylvania Avenue with Bill Leon, M.D., and Jack Debusk, M.D., was followed by his own individual office in a building on College Avenue that he built in the early 1980s, anticipating his twin sons joining him in practice, where they still maintain their clinic, Premium Medical Home. After the death of his dearest Joan in 2007, he was supported and embraced by his circle of friends and family with whom he traveled and celebrated life, attending grandchildren's graduations, trips with friends, and the births of great-grandchildren, all the while sharing his humor, dignity and positive outlook with everyone he loved and met. Since his cancer diagnosis at the close of 2011, he was blessed by the attention of loving caregivers, including Donna Moss, his household assistant for over a decade, Cynthia Kennard, Comfort Keepers, Odyssey Hospice, and others, to whom the family is so grateful. He was preceded in death by his parents, Katherine and Raymond Kelly; wife, Joan Perkins Kelly; brother, Raymond Kelly Jr.; sister-in-law, Martha Lou Kelly; and brother-in-law, Edwin Ryan. Survivors: In addition to his daughter, Paige Kelly Hendricks, Dr. Kelly is survived by his sons, Gordon Kelly Jr. and wife, Jean, Robert Kelly and wife, Paula, Allan Kelly and wife, Mary, and Todd Kelly and wife, Mary Kathryn; grandchildren, Jeff Hendricks and wife, Miranda, Erin Hendricks and husband, Taly Haffar, Gordon Kelly III and Margaret Luby and husband, Nick, James Kelly, Claire Schuchard and husband, Max, and Gwen Kelly; Catherine Kelly, Avery Kelly, and David Kelly, Bryan Kelly, Hannah Kelly, and Christina Kelly; and great-grandchildren, Mila and Lily Haffar and Miles and Michaela Hendricks; sister, Joan Kelly Ryan; and many beloved nieces and nephews and their families. Robertson Mueller Harper Funerals & Cremations 1500 Eighth Ave., 817-924-4233 To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of GORDON KELLY please visit our Sympathy Store.