Chaplain Major General Orris Kelly
Chaplain (Major General) Orris E. Kelly, US Army Retired was born July 28, 1926, in Montrose, Kansas. He entered the Army in January 1944 in the Army Specialized Training Program (Reserve) and attended the University of Kansas. He took Basic Training at Camp Fannin, TX, serving as squad leader. In January 1945 he was sent to Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He graduated on May 29th, 1945, as a Second Lieutenant at age 18. (In 1976, he was installed in the Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.) He served in the Army of Occupation in Germany (1946) as part of the Constabulary. He was separated from the Army in January 1947 as a First Lieutenant, USAR, returning to college at Kansas Wesleyan University for an AB degree. Orris Kelly went to Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois graduation in June of 1953 and ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church. He re-entered the Army as a chaplain reporting to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
He served in many units including the 8th Cavalry Regiment in Japan, the Seventh Infantry Division in Korea and as Division Chaplain of the Fourth Infantry Division in Vietnam. He served on the staff and faculty of the US Army Chaplain School, Director of the Armed Forces Retreat Center in Berchtesgaden, Germany, and Office to the Chief of Chaplains. In 1975 he was nominated to be Chief of Chaplains by President Ford, approved by the Senate, and promoted from Colonel to Major General.
After retirement he served as Associate General Secretary for the Division of Chaplains and Related Ministries of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. The Division of Chaplains was tasked to endorse clergy to serve in hospitals, prisons, industry, and the military. In 1985 he was selected to be Vice President for Pastoral Services for the Hospital Corporation of America, a 476-hospital corporation in Nashville, Tennessee, He left that position in 1987 to return to Kansas to round out his career to serve churches until retirement from the United Methodist Church in 1989.
Education includes Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, the US Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, PA, Master of Science in Counseling at Shippensburg State University and Honorary doctoral degrees from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS, and Westmar College in Iowa.
Awards from the Army include Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with 3 device, Army Commendation Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters and other awards and decorations.
Other honors include being inducted into the Officer Candidate School (OCS) Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia by the Commanding General. Other honors include the Four Chaplains Award, Aaron and Hur Award, Distinguished Alumni Award from Kansas Wesleyan University, award from the Indiana State Police for assisting in the training of chaplains. He is listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in The World."
Orris Kelly served for three years on the National Advisory Committee on Cemeteries for the Veterans Administration in Washington, DC. Other civic activities include the Manhattan, KS chamber of Commerce, Military Relations Committee, the Military Officers Association, Association of the US Army, Vietnam Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Chaplains Association, Landon Lecture Patron, and supporter of McCain events at Kansas State University. He served on two ethics committees at Kansas State University, past member of Kiwanis and Lions clubs and was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Manhattan, KS.
He was preceded in death by his parents Herman and Theodora Kelly, sisters Mildred Moore, Faye Kinsey, Clarice Peteete, Molly McCampbell, brother Ervin Kelly, sons Jeff Kelly and Joel Kelly, and his wife Phyllis Kelly.
He is survived by his wife Charlotte Scott Kelly, children Karen Brudvig of Warrenton, VA and Collette Palmisano of Clearwater, FL, nine grandchildren and eighteen g-grandchildren. He is survived in the Scott family by Janice Horn (Jeff) of Lincoln, NE. Paul Scott (Sharon) of Highland Village, TX, four grandchildren and three g-grandchildren.
Memorial services for Chaplain Major General Kelly will be held at 11:00a.m. Saturday August 15, 2026, at the First United Methodist Church, 612 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas. Interment will be held later at the Arlington National Cemetery.
The family suggests memorial contributions in memory of Orris to the First United Methodist Church, Meadowlark Hills Foundation-Good Samaritan Fund, US Army War College, Garrett Theological Seminary, UM Higher Education Foundation, US Military Chaplains Association, or to Kansas Wesleyan University.
The Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502, is assisting the family with service arrangements. ymlfuneralhome.com