Kelly Bronson

Our beloved Kelly Ray Bronson passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday, April 6th, 2024. Kelly was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Marvin Ray and Sonja Lee Memmott Bronson on October 19, 1962. He was the fourth of nine children and loved by them all.

Kelly married Tracy Cooper on November 16, 1980, later divorced. He married Kimberly Sherman on December 4, 2022. Kelly loved his family and was always in the middle of the fun. He was a cuddly little boy, and sucked his thumb while holding a clean, white, fluffy cloth diaper to his cheek. When he'd drop it, his mom would say, "uh-oh," and laugh while he bent to retrieve it. He ended up calling it his Uh-Oh. His mom says one of her favorite memories was his standing at the large, plate-glass window in the living room watching the rain come down.

He was always curious, and often took things apart and put them back together, or try anyway. He was the cutest, and fastest, little league bat-boy for his coach-dad and rode a mean wooden horse! One Christmas, he got cowboy wear from hat to boots, including quick-draw cap guns, and loved looking just like his daddy.

He grew up spending summers in a cabin near Mt. Pleasant, Utah where he and his family swam, rode horses, fished, and anything else where a tow-headed and inventive boy could be a boy. Dirt was his favorite color and he wore it everywhere! He loved getting a candy bar out of the candy machine at the clubhouse of the resort his cabin was built near, and his dad lovingly, and a little humorously, nick-named him BB Ding Ding...for always dinging him for change. BB was for bat boy.

He was among the first kids in the neighborhood to get a glittery Sting-Ray bicycle, and loved nothing more than racing his siblings down the then dead-end road they lived on, doing wheelies, and calling out to his mom, "Watch me..." as he rode hands-free for as long as he could. He was a hard-worker from a young-age, holding his first job in 6th grade, according to his mom. Before that, he was an "entrepreneur," gathering up all the broken pencils in the house and selling them to his friends at school.

He enjoyed all the simple things in life from outdoor theater movies to 4th of July parades and little Buc-a-roo rodeos, to fishing/swimming at the Fish Pond, or "Pish Find" as he called it, or just making memories with the people he loved. Family holidays were the best, whether they were Bronson hoedowns or Memmott picnics at Liberty Park, where he once walked in front of a swing-set and went home with stitches in his little pudgy cheek. He enjoyed these things all the more when sharing them with his own children in his adult years. Well, except for the stitches!

Like most Bronson men, he was one of the hardest-working men ever. He was happiest when working outdoors, first roofing with his brothers, who laughed and played jokes on each other often, once stapling a brother to a roof with a staple gun. Later, he landscaped for a living; creating beauty and making people happy with every garden hoed, tree planted, or backyard designed. He loved helping people--friend and stranger-everywhere he went, and people loved him right back.

He was a man who tried his best, had his flaws, triumphed when he could, and loved as hard and whole as he knew how. When asked about memories of Kelly, these few give a good glimpse into his feisty self.

"When we were in Vegas for [his brother's] wedding, we were leaving the hotel and Kelly was teasing about shoving us all in the pool."

"Wasn't he the kid who freaked out when mom drew an eye on a large bandage and put it over his injured eye?" Answer: Yes

"He was scrappy. He could put any deal together. He had a great energy and could be the life of the party."

"He chased some of us kids around the backyard with a broom lit on fire."

"Wasn't he the one who, after setting a field on fire playing with matches, came running home, crying to our mom: 'Mom! Mom! I started a forest fire!" No. Trees.

"I remember the video of him when he was just a little guy trying to pick up a bullfrog. Every time he'd catch up to it, it would hop away a foot or so, and Kelly would toddle over and try again. The kid never gave up!" Neither did the man.

Kelly loved country life and spent lots of time with family and friends camping, hunting, and fishing all over Sanpete County and its scenic skyline. He was famous for his teasing and laughing, and for tickling all the little kids and giving them nick-names just like his dad had done before him.

His family and friends will miss him and we're almost positive he's raising a ruckus somewhere up on high with his dad and many other loved ones.

Kelly was preceded in death by his father, Marvin Ray Bronson; a sister, Stacey Lee Bronson; and a sister-in-law, Karen Lynn Remigi Bronson.

Kelly is survived by his wife, Kim; Kim's son, Jason (Ashley) and 4 grandchildren; children, Tabitha West, Nichole Blades, Timothy Bronson, Aubrey Allred, Brittany Brown, Wesley Bronson; and 20 grandchildren.

The Kiss

How could I have known

this every-morning kiss goodbye

would be our last...

An ordinary moment

much too soon became our past...

I don't know what to do...

These unfamiliar duties

so grievous and so new...

Then I feel the whisper

of your spirit brush my brow

and angel kiss that comforts me

for now...

- Shirley B. Westenskow