David Kelly

David D. Kelly, age 48, died at his home in Colorado Springs on April 9, 2007, after a four-year battle with scleroderma. He was born Jan. 2, 1959, in Trinidad to Donald and Marlene Kelly. He grew up in Fort Collins and graduated from Rocky Mountain High School in 1977. He graduated from CSU with a B.A and M.A. in history. He then joined the U.S. Army and attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., where he studied the Czech language and was then stationed in Germany where he served in an intelligence unit. After leaving the Army, he attended the University of Nebraska and attained a Ph.D. in history in 1994. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he moved to the Czech Republic and taught at the Foreign Languages Institute. In 2001, he returned to the United States and taught at the university level. During his academic career, he published and presented numerous papers on Czech and Slavic history. At the time of his death, he was employed by the U.S. Northern Command, or NORCOM, at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs as a historian. Dave was an avid reader and enjoyed traveling, especially in Eastern Europe. He is survived by his parents, Donald and Marlene Kelly of Fort Collins; his sister, Kathleen Little and husband, Mark, of Broomfield; grandmother, Josephine Dawn of Trinidad; and aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by grandparents, Walter and Margaret Kelly of Fort Collins; and grandfather, Clyde Dawn of Trinidad. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 14 at the First United Methodist Church in Fort Collins. Memorial contributions may be made to the Scleroderma Foundations in care of the Bohlender Funeral Chapel, 121 W. Olive, Fort Collins, CO 80524. Friends may send condolences to the family at www.bohlenderfuneralchapel.com .