~ IN MEMORY ~
Korean war veteran, early DL pilot Duriel Lee ‘DL’
O’Kelley
July 19, 1929 - July 22, 2014
Notification with the passing of former Delta pilot Captain
Duriel L. O’Kelley, age 85. The obituary notes that Captain O’Kelley flew for
Delta from 1957-1970 and was based Atlanta.
To view/sign the online guestbook please visit the funeral
home website at http://www.moodyconnollyfuneralhome.com/ or
Should we receive additional information we
will be sure to update our blogspot
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
~ Carol for the PCN
==============================
Duriel Lee O’Kelley
Obituary.............................
EASLEY, S.C.-Duriel Lee O'Kelley passed away in Easley, SC on
July 22, three days after his 85th birthday.
He was born in Pisgah Forest, NC, the son of the late Donald
Lee and Canty Bryson O'Kelley of Hendersonville, NC. His three younger sisters,
Betty Israel, Jody Young and Sara O'Kelley are still living in the Ashville
area.
He graduated from Candler High School in 1947. He studied
electricity but joined the Navy and served at sea in the Korean War. He was
eventually tapped for pilot training and served in the Mediterranean theatre
flying submarine reconnaissance in the Navy P2V.
After his discharge, he was hired in 1957 by Delta Air Lines
and served as Captain flying and training until 1970.
He married Beverly Ann Cronk and had two sons who survive him,
John Howard of Tucker, Georgia and Brian Lee of Easley, SC. He is survived by
four grandchildren…Will, Luke, Anna Rose and Peyton O'Kelley and one great
grandchild, Joseph Beniah O'Kelley.
Based in Atlanta most of his flying career, he purchased
approximately 1000 acres, once one of the largest cotton plantations in
pre-civil war era Coweta County, near Blackjack, and Sharpsburg. Here "DL"
raised his family and bred Morgan horses, going to Vermont to locate the purest
blood lines. Fairmead Damian was his most successful horse; a national champion
for many years.
DL continued to do business and own property in Coweta County
until the late 1980s. He spent the later years of his life in Pensacola, Florida
and Hendersonville, NC.
He was a jack of all trades, exhibiting do-it-yourself success
in electricity, carpentry, farm management, animal husbandry, land investment
and piloting. He was a modest golfer but avid Braves fan. He liked bourbon and
water until diabetes required an immediate cessation and he had a dramatic
encounter with Jesus Christ that allowed him to gain control.
He was interested and proud of his Western N. Carolina
pioneering ancestry.
Graveside Services will be held 3pm, Thursday, July 24, 2014
at Blue Ridge Gardens of Memory in Pisgah Forest, NC. The family will receive
friends at 2pm at Moody-Connolly Funeral Home in Brevard, NC.
Moody-Connolly Funeral Home is in charge of the
arrangements.
.Published in The Times-News on July 24, 2014.
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