Belmont F. Kelly

1916 ~ 2018 Resident of Livermore, CA

Belmont passed away in his sleep on August 25, at the age of 101. He was born in Downtown San Jose in 1916 and had several business, including a news stand by the age of 9. He was 13 when the stock market crashed, which brought on the Great Depression. This era brought out the resourcefulness and tenacious fighter in him. This served him well throughout his life. After two years in Hollywood, in 1936 he moved to San Francisco and worked as a heavy equipment operator and contractor. He quickly realized that the fancy cars around the construction site were driven by the developers and real estate people, so, at the age of 22, he started on a long real estate career that spanned 77 years. In 1941, after Pearl Harbor was bombed, he enlisted into the U.S. Navy and was recruited into the newly formed Seabees, the U.S. Navy construction battalion. He served from 1941-1945 and took part in 3 invasions including the land campaign in Guadalcanal, Bougainville and Okinawa. After the war, he resumed his real estate career building and selling homes and commercial property throughout California, as well as representing several of the large local canneries including Mayfair Packing Co. Some of his high profile clients from L.A and Palm Springs included Gene Autry, Bob Hope and the Smothers Brothers in Salinas.

He will be sorely missed & lovingly remembered by his wife of 59 years, Jeanette, 9 children ages 54-76, 15 grandchildren & countless great & great greatgrandchildren.

Cheers to a remarkable man and a life well lived.