ROGER T. KELLEY

Roger Timothy Kelley, 87, of Lynn Haven, died Wednesday, October 4, 2006 in Panama City, FL. Born Jan. 14, 1919 in Milwaukee to John and Eleanor Kelley, he was twice blessed in marriage. His first wife, Mary Gertrude (Keogh), mother of their six children, died of cancer in January, 1991. On September 25, 1993, he married Mary Joan Koehnemann of Lynn Haven whose husband, Robert, was killed in a highway accident in April, 1991. He was also preceded in death by a son, Timothy D. Kelley
Also surviving are four sons, Peter A. Kelley and Paul E. Kelley both of Peoria. IL, Roger J. Kelley of Lexington, KY and Stephen M. Kelley of Kankakee, IL; one daughter, Mrs. Timothy (Mary) Hoppe of Tampa, FL, and ten grandchildren.
He was a member of St Dominic's Catholic Church, Panama City, where he had served as Eucharistic Minister. He was a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, a member of the Philosophical Society of Panama City and active in support of a strong military force.
He was a graduate of Holy Cross College and attended Harvard Business School.
Joining the Navy after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, his Navy duty included service in the Atlantic on loan to the British Navy as a watch officer on anti-submarine patrol and he commanded an escort ship in the Southwest Pacific.
After four years in the Navy be joined a Milwaukee firm, later a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. In 1953 he became Labor Relations Manager of Caterpillar and was elected vice president of the company in 1964, with responsibility world-wide for employee, labor and public affairs. He was a member of St. Thomas Catholic Church, Peoria Heights, and he performed a broad range of church, school, and community services in the Peoria area, corporate headquarters of Caterpillar.
In 1969 he resigned from Caterpillar to accept appointment as Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Nixon administration, a position in which he was responsible for Defense personnel affairs, both military and civilian. He coordinated the study that led to replacing the Selective Service draft with an All-Volunteer Force. The final draftee was inducted into the Army in November, 1972. In June, 1973, he resigned his Defense position and re-joined Caterpillar from which he retired in 1981.
Upon retirement from Caterpillar, he accepted Senior Fellowships at Bradley University in Peoria and the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC. These positions gave rise to forming The Leadership Development Center in Peoria, now a division of Bradley University.
Visitation will be at Wilson Funeral Home, Panama City, on Friday, October 6 from 6-8 p.m. Mass preceding burial will be at St, Thomas Catholic Church in Peoria Heights, IL. Burial will be at Resurrection Cemetery in Peoria, IL., with Wright and Salmon Mortuary in Peoria conducting.
Memorials may be made to St. Dominic Catholic Church in Panama City or the St. Thomas Catholic Church Building Fund in Peoria Heights, the Leadership Development Center at Bradley University or the Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley.

Wilson Funeral Home