Below is the speech that I was honoured to give at Kelly's Celebration of LIfe.  I hope it provides everyone with an idea of what kind of a person he was and how fortunate I feel to have been able to call him my friend.                



                 KELLY PEARCE CELEBRATION OF LIFE SPEECH 

* I met Kelly in High School.   We were in a couple of classes together.  Fortunately I had good marks in those classes as I think many of you know Kelly did not suffer fools.  One of my favourites was auto shop that we took together.  Often worked on things that were a bit more challenging than other students.  Kelly was better at this class than I was.

* I remember Kelly had lived in the States as his father had been posted to Washington, DC.  He was a good basketball player and at many schools would have made the basketball team, unfortunately our school was the top ranked school in the country and had a couple of players who went on to lead the University of Victoria to 5 straight national championships.  Kelly, like a lot of good bb players at our school, could only cheer the team on.  
 

* I also remember Kelly being in Reserves but did not think much of it at first because I was a long haired civilian who could not imagine cutting my hair to join the military.  Of course that changed in the summer following High School graduation when I saw an ad for Communication Reserves in the paper.  I figured I would give it a go for the summer then quit so I could grow my hair long to fit in at university.  Although I did not see Kelly my first summer in Reserves (he was in Egypt on a call out at the time) I did enjoy my summer and opted to stay in the Reserves.   

* Kelly eventually came back from his time in Egypt and we did many exercises together as part of 748 CommunicationsTroop.  For those of you who did not know Kelly during this part of his life I can assure you that he was an outstanding radio and teletype operator.  I was not nearly as technically proficient at military skills as Kelly was but I did at this time learn my first valuable lesson from Kelly.  I learned that I did not have to be the best at something, I simply had to surround myself with the Kelly Pearce’s of the world and be smart enough to capitalize on their expertise.  I continue to use this skill today thanks to Kelly

* Kelly left to join the Regular Force while I was still in Reserves but I would still see him regularly when he was posted to Holberg (northern tip of Vancouver Island) and would come home to Nanaimo regularly.
 

* I also visited Kelly when he was posted to the Tac Hel Sqn in Edmonton.  I think it was a posting he really enjoyed.   I did not see as much of Kelly during his time in Kingston as I was by this time in Victoria starting my career in the Navy.  

* I do remember Kelly telling me about meeting a wonderful lady at the restaurant at the Holiday Inn in Kingston.  She was apparently reading by herself at a table and Kelly made a comment about the book as he had read it previously.  They struck up a conversation and as they say the rest is history.  Kelly at this time was on Standby to go to the Middle East for Gulf War 1.  They had time for all of three dates before Kelly deployed. Of course Kelly being the die-hard romantic that he was in no time at all he was proposing over the phone from the Persian Gulf.   Cathy of course being the shrewd woman that she is waited to review the offer in writing.  

* The time eventually came where Kelly had to choose between the military and the woman he loved and of course it was an easy choice.   Those of us who knew Kelly know he loved the military but clearly he loved Cathy far more.  

* Kelly went on to Durham College in Oshawa and received a Certificate in Business Operations Management in Jun 95.  He got a job with Bombardier as a Work and Materiel Planner but as we all know the company has had its struggles and Kelly was eventually laid off.  Kelly later went to work for Goodrich Aerospace specializing in making landing gear for aircraft.  

* By this time Kelly and Cathy were living in Oshawa and while I was teaching a course in Borden (Barrie) I went to visit them.  Zuni, their beloved dog, appeared to take an immediate shine to me and followed me all over the house.  Cathy also seemed to like me but fortunately did not feel compelled to follow me all over the house.  

* When I introduced my wife, Roseann, to Kelly she remarked on how welcoming he was to her and how pleased she was that someone from my past who she had just met made her feel like she had been with me forever.   One of the things that I loved best about Kelly was that it did not matter what had gone on in your own life i.e. where you chose to live, what employment you chose, etc. if you were his friend you were his friend for life and nothing you did could change that.   Loyalty like that is something to be truly admired.  I have tried to adopt that philosophy within my own life as well.  Thanks Kelly.

* I have been fortunate throughout my military career and was able achieve a fair degree of success.   I think we all know people that are sometimes envious of their friend’s successes. I have to say that Kelly was the exact opposite.  He was always as thrilled about any success that I achieved as I was myself.  I have always appreciated that about him as having him celebrate an achievement with me made it that much sweeter.  Once again I try to emulate that in my own life and celebrate the successes of my friends with the same degree of enthusiasm that I would celebrate my own successes.  Thanks Kelly

* We came down to visit Kelly in Oct of last year.  I was at that time, like everyone else in this room I am sure, concerned but hoping for the best knowing that Kelly was a fighter.  What I remember most about that visit was that there was a brief period where Cathy and Roseann had gone to one of the lounges in the hospital and I was alone with Kelly.  During this time he immediately voiced his concern for Cathy if anything were to happen to him.  I was touched by his selflessness.  Even though he was obviously in pain and knew the struggle he faced he was able to put that aside and think about others ahead of himself.  It is something we should all aspire to do if ever faced with similar situations.  Thanks Kelly

* Cathy kept us regularly updated on Kelly’s condition and I know that he fought the good fight right up until the end.  He is at peace now and pain free and for that we can all be grateful.   I will miss our long phone conversations about any number of wide ranging topics and I won’t be able to sit in the Coco Berry Café, a place we often go for breakfast when staying at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, without picturing Kelly strolling in with his Tilley hat and backpack looking so happy to see us.  As I said on Facebook the day Kelly passed, in the words of Charlie Puth “It’s been a long day without you my friend, I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again.”  Rest in Peace Kelly.  You will not be forgotten.  

I never visited Uncle Kelly in Ontario (I live in BC), but he did visit us here. I remember when I was about five or six Kelly and Cathy came. I had an old teddy lamp that broke and scared me. We had put it in the guest room. I remember warning Uncle Kelly and Auntie Cathy not to go into the closest, because the teddy lamp might get you.

We also spend lots of time talking to him on the phone. He was one of those people, who if you saw his name come up on call display, you better make sure you have lots of time. The last time I talked to him on the phone was in January 2015, the day after my 20th birthday. I can't remember what we talked about, though I do recall briefly discussing my job the summer before and I quite enjoyed the discussion. I obviously thought about Uncle Kelly calling a lot because I dreamed it one night. The other people in the dream didn't know Kelly, but seemed to know that he liked to talk. 

In real life, he liked to talk too. When he came out to BC for a visit in May 2013, Kelly and the rest of the family (including me), had some long and enjoyable discussions. 

I will truly miss getting calls from Uncle Kelly and visiting him when he came out.
 

I'm hoping to tell the story about my son Kelly Michael Pearce.

He was a noble, strong, generous and affectionate person who gave freely to everyone who came in contact with him. He was noted for his sense of humor his quick laugh and for his ability to organize things.

As a child, Kelly was a wonderfully, happy boy with a habit of getting into scrapes and a sense of mischief. He used to love riding his rocking horse, often falling asleep while rocking away. He was a curious little boy, always adventurous. He caused no shortage of anxious moments. For example, he got up early while on a camping trip and deciding to go swimming. I awoke in the tent and leapt outside only to find our German Shephard, Fleet, holding on to the seat of his pants to prevent him from going into the lake.

Then there was the time when his mother and I left him momentarily in the car while we went into a corner store to get some cold drinks. Kelly put the car into neutral. I just managed to jump into the car to stop it from heading down the hill with Kelly laughing in delight.

Then there was the time he decided to wash our neighbour Charlie Pachal's new Buick hard top.  Giggling and wielding the soap and hose, he thoroughly washed the car inside and outside.

As he grew up, the road for Kelly was not always easily tread, but he met the challenges that were put in his path. He and his best friend Brian Perry were high school pals and spent time in the reserves together and then in the regular force where Brian, much to Kelly's delight, progressed to the rank of Major.

He met Cathy Doran on Sept. 27th, 1990 in the dining room of the Holiday Inn in Kingston when he was on 12 hour call out to go to the Persian Gulf. They had three dates before he left for the gulf on Oct. 26th. The two of them ran up huge phone bills while he was there (so much so that Bell Canada would call Cathy after each monthly bill just to make sure the calls were legitimate). She never did tell Kelly the total amount of the phone bill!

Kelly proposed to Cathy over the phone from Bahrain in November and they were the first couple to be married at the Oshawa Curling Club on June 15, 1991. Shortly thereafter, Kelly and Cathy got their first border collie, Kelsey and he left the military. He started at Durham College in the fall of 1991, completing a one year general studies program with honours in June 1992 and graduating with a Certificate in Business Operations Management in June 1995. While Kelly was in school he also taught first year business students as an instructor in the inventory management program - something he enjoyed greatly.

He started working with Bombardier Aerospace in Downsview after graduation as a Work and Material Planner until Bombardier did a massive layoff in 2002. He then worked for two years on a contract basis at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Plant as a Retrofit Planner. In 2005 he started with Goodrich Aerospace in Oakville as a Work and Material Planner and he and Cathy got their second border collie, Zuni. In 2006, Kelly and Cathy left Oshawa and moved to Hamilton. Kelly stayed at Goodrich until 2009 when Goodrich did a staffing restructuring of the unit where Kelly was working. Kelly then accepted the position of Domestic Project Manager of the Pearce household - a role that he carried out brilliantly right up until the end.

Trying to describe Kelly is easy; he was well liked and he was always ready to help and never turned down a request when asked for assistance. If you wanted a problem solved he would do his best to find the solution. He had a keen sense of communications and computers and the use of electronics.

His love of Irish music, in particular, the many songs of the Clancy Brothers brought much enjoyment to the family and to me; we shared much of the music together and in particular "Finnegan’s Wake" and his favourite Irish rebel folk song "Johnson's Motor Car."

Kelly had a strong sense of community and he was able to make friends easily and seldom had a harsh word – he had close friends in the neighborhood and in the military. He liked nothing better than eating steak with friends and family and his favourite phrase was "I love it when a plan comes together."

There was sunshine in his smile, and a twinkle in his eye, and a love for family including his loving wife Cathy, the Doran clan, his brother Scott and his family, Heather and Allie, and myself and my wife Laurie.

Kelly Pearce, was my Sunny Boy and I miss him terribly.