Kelly Jay Widdison

Kelly Jay Widdison passed away Sept. 6, 2023 in Clinton, Utah. Kelly was born Dec. 1, 1957 in Logan, Utah to Chad Newell Widdison and Lorna Powell Widdison. As a toddler he journeyed with them to Pullman Washington where they lived while his father attended Veterinary School at Washington State University. They returned to Utah in 1963 and settled in West Point where Kelly and his older brother Kirk attended school. They built their “nice brown bricked house” in 1972 and he lived there up to the last few weeks of his life. When his health took a downward turn, he moved into The Peaks at Clinton where he received wonderful care from the staff and made new friends.

In 1975 Kelly was in a motorcycle accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury and lifelong challenges. After a very long recovery process he was able to return to school and graduate from Clearfield High in 1976. He idolized his brother and loved retelling stories of staying with Kirk in his dorm room at Utah State and when Kirk came to the hospital to visit him while he was going through his recovery. After graduation he became his dad’s sidekick and worked alongside him for over 44 years in his large animal veterinary clinic. When Chad retired, so did Kelly. Then they became wanderers attending auctions, grabbing groceries, driving to Hooper to water the farm, grabbing a Coke or a Mt. Dew along the way, and mostly stopping by to visit family and friends.

Kelly loved life. He was full of energy and kindness. He loved anything GMC but Chevys were okay too. For years you didn’t see him without a Mt. Dew in his hand but at some point, he switched and it was all about Coke. He had a few favorite subjects he liked to talk about: Sports, cars, JFK’s assassination, Animal House, the Wright Brothers, Albert Einstein, and when the first man walked on the moon. He also loved to talk about his favorite schools, Utah State, Washington State, and Weber State. He loved hunting and fishing with his dad and the Allred boys.

Kelly had a fascination with airplanes. Any time he saw a plane in the sky he’d say “That’s where you need to be right there on that jet plane 10,000 miles in the sky” and he’d speculate on where it was going. He got to experience going on those jet planes personally when he would go with his cousin Kevin (Sue) Scott down to Georgia to visit his cousin "twin" Karen (Andy) Galt. He loved his time with them.  Going to an Atlanta Braves game, touring Civil War sites, train museums or hanging out at the pool was awesome, but his favorite thing to do there was riding around in the "silver bullet" and touring the Coca Cola museum.

 In his last few years, he found another new favorite pastime, attending the Senior Center in Clearfield. He referred to it as his “work”. He loved riding the bus every day and hanging out with all of his new found friends there, especially the ones who bought him all those “contraband cokes”. He loved playing Bingo and poker or shooting pool. The field trips were his all-time favorite especially if it involved food. It truly was the highlight of his last years of life. We can never thank all of those at the center for the joy you brought him. 

Once his parents had passed, he became a true part of the Beaman family by default. He was uncle Kelly to a lot of cute little ones. He loved going to their birthday parties and BBQ’s, watching them swim in the pool or just play in the yard. The kids would play games with him like Uno, Old Maid, and Go Fish. He loved to play Poker, so our sweet Vaeh tried really hard at only 8 to learn how to play so that she could play his favorite game with him. Camping, hunting, ATV riding, and even boating were some of the family adventures Kelly was part of. He loved the big family parties for the holidays too. 

Kelly was reunited with his parents and his brother Kirk at his passing. He is survived by his sister-in-law Mary Widdison, niece Brenna Widdison Clark, great niece Olivia, and great nephew Decius, 3 aunts, several cousins, and many lifelong friends, as well as the Beaman family who loved him dearly (Kent, Denise, Justin, Jacque, Shany, Jason, Dez, Greg, Rachel, Leroy, Kaydee, Darlene, Nevaeh, Lauren, Alia, Becky, and Makayla). 

We would like to thank the staffs at the Davis North Senior Center, The Peaks, as well as the hospice workers who loved and cared for Kelly in his final days. We are forever grateful.

Public viewing will be held Tuesday Sept 12th from 9:30am to 10:30am at Russon Mortuary in Syracuse, followed by a graveside service at the West Point Cemetery at 11am.