Kelly Ouderkirk, loving husband, father, friend, mentor, and proud veteran passed away Monday, February 8, 2016, from a sudden heart attack at the age of 49. Kelly was always quick with a friendly smile, generous to a fault, and loyal to the end of the earth. Perhaps his most defining characteristic was the way he always looked for opportunities to take care of those around him. He was a fearsome competitor and the strongest of leaders. His 3rd ACR Bradley scout platoon was one of the first units to enter the Gulf War in 1991. He was awarded the Bronze Start with V device (for valor) for his actions in combat.
Kelly was a beautiful man; the strongest of leaders and an even better friend. If you knew him, you know that he absolutely lit up when talking about his family. This is an opportunity to share the love and respect we feel for Kelly and pay it forward to his beloved children. His daughters are bright, energetic and filled with that inimitable Ouderkirk enthusiasm. There is little doubt they will be like their father in the way they spread cheer, and bring leadership, intelligence and wit to all they do.
This site is set up as a way to honor Kelly, and to keep his memory alive for his two young daughters, Keira & Kailyn. Please use this site to share your memories of Kelly in words, pictures, or videos. Kelly is gone, but never forgotten, and he will be forever missed.
I worked side by side with your father for the past several years at IBM. Please forgive me as I could not be there at your father’s memorial service, but I was there in spirit. You may not understand all of my comments right now, but you will as you grow older and work at your job someday.
Kelly was a true and original leader with his people. He always was in the moment and present with us, and believe me that is hard for a leader to do given all the responsibility they have. He never ignored you or made you feel inferior, although he was a superior performer than most IBM sales people. I would call him humble, but confident.
Kelly recognized good performance and made us feel good about ourselves, no matter if you worked for him or side by side with him. I was a guest in one of his meetings and he remembered to publicly honor me with a comment about something small that I did to help his team. He did not need to do that but he knew I would feel appreciated.
The leadership traits that I saw often were that he was decisive, enthusiastic, wise, just and unselfish. Not a day goes by that we don’t miss him and his leadership dearly, but we honor him each day by striving to be a leader like him. I was blessed to have known and worked with Kelly.
May our good Lord bless you and bring you peace.
Kelly and I were next door neighbors, he was a good neighbor and a friend. We were the same age, his birthday was exactly one month before mine. We used to go hiking up through the woods behind our houses, we used to bike ride up and down the road we lived on. We moved away and lost touch with everyone in the neighborhood. Your father was a good person. God bless you both. I wish there was more I could remember, it was a long time ago.
