James E. (Jim) Kelm, USAF (Ret) Colonel, went to be with the Lord and his wife of 58 years, Connie, on July 18, 2024, at the age of 92.
Jim was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota to Fred and Kay Kelm on January 6, 1932. The family moved to Oklahoma City in 1946, where Jim attended Capitol Hill High School and then Oklahoma University. While at OU, he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Air Force ROTC, President of the RUF-NEKs, and an OU cheerleader. He majored in Aeronautical Engineering and after graduating in 1955, went to work for Douglas Aircraft Company in Tulsa, OK.
He met his future bride, Connie Caswell at Douglas and they were married on February 11th, 1956. They left immediately for Florida, where Jim began primary pilot training in the U.S. Air Force. Jim graduated first in his class and was selected to advance to jet fighter pilot training. He served as a fighter pilot and in various command positions around the world throughout his 26 1/2-year Air Force career. These included two combat flying tours in Southeast Asia, during which he was shot down and rescued, command of a fighter squadron, Base Commander of the second largest Air Force base in Europe and ending back at OU as Commander of the Air Force ROTC detachment, where it all started.
During this time, he and Connie had 5 children and relocated 16 times. Jim retried from the Air Force on July 31, 1982, and become President of Downtown Airpark, a business aircraft full service and repair facility, in Oklahoma City. He and Connie moved from Norman, OK to Edmond in August of 1985 and vowed they would never move again. Jim served at Downtown Airpark until June 1994, when he left to start his own aviation consulting business. He eased off consulting somewhat in late 2003 when he and Connie bought a vacation lake front property on Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma, and Jim decided that there must be life after the office. He was right…. but he missed flying til the day he died.
A great blessing to both Jim and Connie was that all of their five “children” live in the Oklahoma City/Edmond area. Jim is preceded in death by his beloved Connie, and is survived by their son, Rick and wife Kristi, daughter Kathleen and husband David, daughter Pamela and husband Don, son Jim Jr. (JR) and Nancy Kelm, and son Matt and wife Kathy, 14, grandchildren, and 20 great grandchildren. Jim loved his family and treasured his many friends at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, particularly those in the “A Team”.
He is loved and missed very much! Services were held on Monday, July 29, 2024, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 9th and Blvd, in Edmond. Military Honorary burial services were held on July 29, 2024, at Rose Hill Cemetery in OKC. Please use the following link to live stream the service https://youtu.be/PM62UBAyUaE.