Quick Facts
Biography
Lee Kelly (born 1932) is an American sculptor. His work is well-known throughout the West Coast of the United States, with more than 30 sculptures on display between Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. Kelly has been called "Oregon's sculptor".
Personal life
Born in rural McCall in central Idaho, Kelly was raised near Riggins, Idaho. In the 1950s he graduated from what is now Portland State University before joining the United States Air Force and marrying Jeanette Bernhardt. During the late 1950s he attended Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. Bernhardt and Kelly had one daughter Kassandra, and Bernhardt died in 1960 of cancer before Kassandra turned one.
In 1961, Kelly married Bonnie Bronson, and in 1963 they bought a 5-acre (2.0 ha) dairy farm near Oregon City, where as of 2010 Kelly still lived. Kelly and Bronson had a son, Jason, who died in 1978 of leukemia, while Bronson died climbing Mount Adams with Kelly in 1990.