Richard Wayne Kelly, Sr.

Richard Wayne Kelly Sr., passed away on April 22, 2022 at the age of 67 years old.

He was born on June 10, 1954 in Wilmington, DE, to Quentin Willard Kelly, Sr. and Ruby E. Kelly. He was the youngest of 5 children. From a very young age he was always drawn to nature, growing up on a farm and spending most of his youth down the beach. Most of his teenage summers in the 1960s were spent at the family’s trailer right on the Indian River Inlet in Ocean View, DE. He was a first mate on many fishing boats, he worked the snack bar on Southside Marina at the Inlet, and he learned his love for surfing. At one point he was a highly ranked surfer on the East Coast.

Richard graduated from Christiana High School in 1972. For years he worked as a draftsman for various engineering companies in Delaware like Ames Engineering, Diamond State Engineering, and M. Davis and Sons. Self-taught, he worked on many important machines and buildings, bottling plants, canning machines, etc.

Richard’s first love was music. He learned guitar at a very young age, as well as bass and keyboards and singing. He was a pioneer in the music scene in Delaware, recording at many popular recording studios like Kajem Studios and White Clay Creek Studios. He was in various popular bands, including Molded Rock and Mischief. He formed his own band called the Rich Kelly Band or RKB and released two CDs, “RK’d” and “Inside The Small Things.” He was a BMI registered artist and his music has gotten radio and television airplay all over the world. He loved recording in his home studio, continuing to produce music mostly on his own for many years.

His other interests included hiking and camping. He loved vacationing down in the Smoky Mountains at Big Meadows and Lewis Mountain campgrounds with his truck camper, and has hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail through the Shenandoah Mountains. He also was incredibly fond of space and aviation. He was a former pilot, training and flying with Matt Chapman out of New Garden Airport. He enjoyed planning flights on his Flight Simulator at home and studying space missions.

He is preceded in death by his father Quentin, his mother Ruby, his brothers Quentin Jr. and Patrick, and his sisters Sandra Whitson and Betty Story. He is survived by his son Richard Jr. and his daughter Rachel, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was an incredibly loving and devoted father, a wonderful brother to his siblings, a loyal son to his parents, and a great friend and person to everyone he knew. He will be greatly missed by all.

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 12:30 pm until 1:30 pm on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Home, 1000 North DuPont Parkway, New Castle, DE, where a funeral service will begin at 1:30 pm. Interment will follow in Gracelawn Memorial Park, 2220 North Dupont Highway, New Castle, DE.