Obituary

Kelly LeRoy Twogood passed away on May 26, 2023, surrounded by family, after a long battle with kidney and heart disease. Born on October 7, 1945, in Butler, Missouri, the son of Harley and Margaret Twogood, he spent his childhood in LaCygne, Kansas, and his teenage years in Osawatomie, before settling in the Kansas City area.

From a young age, Kelly enjoyed a curiosity about and passion for life – and mischief. He chopped off his toe with an ax at age six! Both of his parents ignored his screaming, assuming the other was spanking him. When Kelly’s older sister, Jeanne, caught him stealing a cigar from his brother, Warren, she made him smoke the whole thing as punishment. He enjoyed every minute!

In fact, smoking is what led him to the Lord. He skipped Sunday evening service to steal cigarettes from Jeanne’s boyfriend, Lionel. His guilt led him to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the altar call that same evening!

Kelly joked that he reached his pinnacle in eighth grade because he was valedictorian and reached his full height. Kelly hated doing farm chores and practicing piano, but loved playing sports and hanging out with his best friend, Jim Cortner. After a stint at Chanute Junior College to play basketball, Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Kansas in 1967. He remained a proud Jayhawk for the rest of his life.

Kelly was, first and foremost, a family man. He was a proud father, brother, and uncle. Vacations were always to visit family – California, Minnesota, and Nebraska. He never wanted to miss a wedding or a party – until he gave up “doing graduations.”

He loved having his grandchildren over to visit or help him with a project. He loved playing cards with his siblings. And he was willing to talk on the phone for hours if you needed a listening ear.

Before inventing a machine and earning a patent that revolutionized the bulk-bagging industry, Kelly worked for two decades in purchasing at Hallmark Cards. He loved driving the carpool van and working with vendors. In the 1990’s, Kelly started his own company, and his machines still operate in places as far away as Mexico and Hawaii.

Diabetes made Kelly legally blind for 30 years, but it never slowed him down. He developed superior organization skills so he could live independently. He invented and built things, often with his children and grandchildren, until the day he died.

If he wasn’t in his garage, Kelly was cooking. He loved a good pig roast, canning pickles, and making homemade salsa and chicken stock. Even as his health deteriorated, he was always up to the challenge of cooking for a crowd.

Kelly was preceded in death by his wife of 37 years, Jane, and siblings Warren Twogood and his wife, Phyllis, Jeanne Volker and her husband, Lionel, and brother-in-law Don Ewbank. He is survived his son, Kyle, and Angela Twogood of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and their children, Luke, Max, Levi, and Ava; daughter, Jill, and David Christian of Chicago, and their children, John, Thomas, Genevieve, and Jude; and daughter, Kim Twogood of Lee’s Summit, as well as siblings Jerry and Mary Twogood, Naida Ewbank, and Kathy Strickland, along with countless cousins, nieces and nephews. Rest in Peace, Kelly.

Memorial contributions can be made to

Hospice Foundation of America:  https://hospicefoundation.org/Donate

or

15 and the mahomies:

https://www.15andthemahomies.org/donate/#:~:text=Donations%20can%20be%20mailed%20to,Fill%20out%20my%20online%20form.