Meet Your Neighbor: Albert Kelly – North Platte Telegraph

This Southern boy found a new home in North Platte and loves it as much as his hometown.

Albert Kelly was born and raised in South Carolina, but has called North Platte home since 1978.

I was born in a small community called Olympia, right outside the city limits of Columbia, South Carolina, Kelly said. It is a town about the size of Hershey.

His family came from blue-collar stock and were hard workers.

My mom was a homemaker; she kept us under control, Kelly said. My dad was a plumber about 90 percent of the time. We had four or five cotton mills that supported the community and Dad would work in the cotton mills sometimes.

The homes were built by the corporation that owned the cotton mill.

Most of the community was blue-collar labor, Kelly said. Back in those days, thats how it got developed. They called (the workers) Lint Heads. That was from the seeds and cotton and all getting in their hair. So we were proud Lint Heads. We were a proud people.

Kelly said he had three sisters, two older and one younger than him.

After high school, Kelly joined the Air Force and when he got out 10 years later, he decided to move to North Platte.

I got out of the military in 1978 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and moved here, Kelly said. My wife is from North Platte. She and I were both in the Air Force. Thats where we met, in the Air Force, down in Biloxi, Mississippi.

After Theresa and Al got married, they visited North Platte from time to time.

The first time I came to Nebraska I fell in love with it, Kelly said. I didnt think you could ever see this many miles without a tree.

Theresa and Al agreed to move to North Platte to raise their family.

Because when I found out about North Platte and the state of Nebraska, I said, this is it, Kelly said. Its a good education state, so we raised our children here. We always said when they got big wed head back down South, but here we are.

Kelly took a plumbing apprenticeship job when they moved to North Platte.

I started working for Aupperle Plumbing, Kelly said. The VA paid for him to give me a job and I learned a trade there.

From Aupperles, Kelly worked for North Platte Plumbing and then went to Union Pacific for 3 years.

I got laid off from UP and went to work for the hospital (Great Plains Health), Kelly said. I worked for them for 16 years until I retired on June 23. I was the master plumber there for the hospital in the engineer department.

Theresa and Al have two boys.

One is Albert, hes named after me so we call him Bert, and then Danny is my youngest and he owns his own plumbing shop in North Platte, Kelly said. Bert is in Virginia working for General Dynamics.

The Kellys have three grandchildren.

We have two grandboys my youngest son has two sons and my oldest boy has a girl, Kelly said. We always say shes Gods gift to us because when they were in England they were told they couldnt have any children.

Kelly said his son and daughter-in-law tried and tried and couldnt get pregnant.

So (my son) decided to tell his company he wanted to move back to the United States, and they moved to Virginia, Kelly said. And six months later, his wife was pregnant with a little girl. Shes 5 years old now. God is wonderful.

Kellys favorite hobby is golf.

My oldest son was stationed in England, and when he would come home, he and my youngest son would go golfing, Kelly said. When they did that, Dad didnt go because Dad didnt golf.

So Kelly figured he needed to learn the game.

I figured a good way to spend more time with my kids was to take up golf, Kelly said. And I did and now Im golfing and they dont.

Kellys favorite thing about North Platte is that it is similar to his hometown.

I guess its the small town, the people, Kelly said. You can walk by people and theyll always speak to you. Where I grew up in the South it was like that and thats what made me; every time I think about my home in South Carolina and this being my home in Nebraska, I couldnt ask for a better place.

Kelly rides motorcycle as a hobby as well.

Its hard to say where I would like to go in Nebraska that I havent been to because I ride motorcycle all over the state, Kelly said. Im a member of two groups, the American Legion Riders and then I ride with the Patriot Guard of Nebraska. So, I think Ive visited most of Nebraska.

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Meet Your Neighbor: Albert Kelly - North Platte Telegraph