Ely

Kermit B. Ely, 70, of Wolf Creek Township, Mercer County, since 1982, died Sept. 26 after a courageous battle with oral cancer.

Born in Sewickley, Allegheny County, April 26, 1937, he was the son of Paul Beyer and Esther Clara Nagel Ely.

A 1955 graduate of Zelienople High School, he was a man of many trades, including a former service station owner and a horizontal boring mill operator at Ellwood City Tube and Industrial Machine in Zelienople.

He achieved a lifelong dream of becoming a dairy farmer when he moved to Grove City in 1982; and with his son, he owned and operated the Double E Dairy Farm. After retiring from dairying in 2000, he operated a small Hereford beef farm.

Mr. Ely was a member of the Ebenezer United Presbyterian Church, Wolf Creek Township.

He enjoyed farming, going to auctions, cooking and canning. Also he enjoyed the children who seemed to gravitate to him.

Surviving are his wife, Sally Stewart Ely, whom he married Oct. 24, 1981; a son, Jeffrey J. Ely of Wolf Creek Township; a sister, Florence Beckert and her husband, Chuck, of Rochester; three nieces, Cheryl Beckert Kelker, Debbie Ely Smith and her husband, Jerry, and Sharon Ely Enslen and her husband, William, and a nephew, Charles Beckert of Bellingham, Wash. Also surviving are three great-nieces.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Lewis Ely, who died in 1968.

<B>ELY </B>— A memorial service to celebrate the life of Kermit B. Ely, who died Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at his home with Raymond Voltz, Ph.D., of Grove City officiating. An open house will follow until 6 p.m.Arrangements are being handled by the <B>Cunningham Funeral Home</B>, Grove City.Memorial tributes may be made to the American Cancer Society charter of the donor's choice; Family Hospice of Hermitage, 1965 Shenango Valley Freeway, Hermitage, PA 16148 or Family Hospice Manor, 301 Bellview Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15229.