Charles Edward “Sonny” Kelly

February 1, 2017

Charles Edward “Sonny” Kelly, 78, of Climax, Ga., passed away Wednesday, February 1, 2017.

The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 4, 2017, at Ivey Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow at Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery with Tracy Kelly, Don Searan, Jackie Thomas, John Josey, Eddie Puente and Matthew Lambert serving as active pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Wayne Blanton, Thomas Josey and Raymond Hayes.

The family will receive friends prior to the service, from 10 to 10:45 a.m., on Saturday, February 4, 2017, at Ivey Funeral Home. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.iveyfuneral.com. Memorial donations may be made to: Pine Forest Baptist Church, 104 Pine Forest Road, Climax, Georgia 39834 or Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, 763 Antioch Church Road, Climax, GA 39834.

Charles Edward Kelly was born February 21, 1938, in Climax, the son of Melvin Thomas Kelly and Maggie Mae Yawn Kelly. He married the love of his life, Janice Lannette Lambert, on Valentine’s Day in 1959. Sonny retired from Engelhard having worked for many years as a crane operator. He was a member of Pine Forest Baptist Church.

Sonny was a kind man always willing to help others. His hands told the story of years of hard work to provide for his family and service to others. Sonny enjoyed fishing trips, especially if he caught a few. He tenderly cared for his satsuma trees and was always willing to share the fruit of his labor. Sonny felt his greatest gift on this earth was his family.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Lannette Kelly; his children, Janice May and her husband, Eddie of Climax, Lisa Salter and her fiancé, Roy, of Climax, Tracy Kelly and his wife, Delena, of Geraldine, Ala., and Regina Alley and her husband, Mickey, also of Climax; his sibling, Dorothy Maxwell of Pelham and Paul Kelly and his wife, Juliet, of Climax; his grandchildren, Jennifer, John, April, Von, Hannah, Katie, Cody, Colt, Cory, Dakota, Brayden, James and Tina; and his seven great-grandchildren. Sonny was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Frances Josey; and his grandson, Matthew Kelly.