Michael Francis Kelly

Michael Francis Kelly, charter boat captain, mushroom farmer, financial analyst, and always a world traveler, passed away on April 7, 2020 at the age of 68. He was sent on his next adventure in a Buddhist ceremony held in Thailand. His ashes were buried near a tree in the temple area.

Mike was born in The Dalles, Ore., on June 7, 1951, the second child of Lee and Wilbur Kelly. Mike led an adventurous life. He traveled to Europe and Asia in the early 70’s in a classic “hippy” VW van. The stories Mike would tell of this trip are not really fit to print here, but they are memorable. When he came back, he was married and divorced, held various jobs and attended various colleges until he found his passion for sailing. He ended up in the Caribbean as the captain of the sailboat Bon Vivant and he started building his own sailboat in rural Wasco County. Mike remarried, and started growing shiitake mushrooms with the thought that it would allow him to work on his sailboat in his spare time. They lived a spartan life in rural areas of Oregon and Washington. He was divorced and remarried, and his daughter, Nicky, was born during this time. Eventually, Mike decided to finish his degree and ended up a financial analyst for Boeing. Mike and Boeing parted ways and he was divorced. He met Kulchalee on a trip to Thailand and they were married soon after. They lived in Ecuador for a number of years, then moved to Thailand. Mike came back to the US each summer to work on the sailboat until he could not make the trip anymore. Mike finished his quest for owning a sailboat with “The Alternative” which he bought in Thailand and gave to his wife as a birthday gift. Mike’s final adventure will be on the sailboat where the last of his remains will be scattered into the sea off Krabi Province in Thailand.