Posted: 11/11/04

Eddie would go the distance, be it over 5,700 miles in the swimming pool or to his 90th birthday, and he knew when he had accomplished his goals. He died on Nov. 8, 2004, after sharing some stories and laughs with family and friends.

He was born in a one-room log cabin in Sheep Creek Basin in Southwestern Montana on Oct. 29, 1914. His early education came from small rural schools, eight in three different states, completing the seventh and eighth grades simultaneously one year, for which he father rewarded him with a pair of spurs. He graduated from Dillon High School in 1932, but his goal of a college education was delayed by the reality of having to work to earn tuition. After a few years of working for a dollar a day as a ranch hand, he began his college education at he University of Montana, but obtained his degree from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1942. While there he met and married Ruth, his wife of 54 years. His education was interrupted by his Army service in Europe, In 1946, he returned to U of M and obtained a master's in psychology and then taught there for a few years.

Always interested in new challenges he left academia to pursue employment in the private sector, as director of the Montana State Chamber of Commerce, and in state government, as director of the Montana Department of Institutions, from which he retired in 1975.

He began swimming in 1969 to rehabilitate a knee following surgery and didn't stop for 34 years, despite subsequent knee surgeries, cancer, a stroke and the loss of his wife. During that time he swam over 5,700 miles using his unique one-armed style.

Ed is survived by his sons and their families: Steve and Nancy and their daughters Kelsey and Katie (pets Lucky, Lucy and Libby), and Stu and Mikal (dogs Tauni, Griz and Moxie) and their son Bart, and his wife, Gina (dog Mehana). He is also survived by countless friends of all ages and stages in life, all of whom were touched by his kindness and will remember him fondly.

Eddie has gone but he left a final poem that captures the philosophy of a life well lived and a lot of what those who knew him best found so special:

Looking Back

It's an unmarked trail to the Great Divide

And it's uphill much of the way.

We don't notice the grade when we're younger,

But toward the last it gets steeper each day.

When we are young and full of "gung"

The miles slip behind with ease.

But as we grow older pebbles become boulders,

And each breath is more like a wheeze.

It's at that point that we start looking back

We ponder the events of the past.

We didn't bother before, we knew there'd be more

We were sure those good days would last.

They didn't of course, but we should have known

That the curtain was going to fall.

That the faces we loved, the sights and sounds

Would fade as the unknown calls.

You grope for a few words to summarize,

To distill what it's all been about.

You think of a few good things you have done

And of some about which you have doubt.

Overall it's been a good life

Great family, good friends and some fun.

Disappointments, to be sure, and setbacks,

But no excuses now the race has been run.

So it's on to the next adventure,

Be it better or worse or a blank.

The latter more likely I think, but I hope I'm wrong

There are some I neglected to thank.

In lieu of services Eddie wanted a grand 90th birthday party which was celebrated a few days before his death with family and friends. He requested that memorials be made to The Mikal Kellner Foundation for Animals, P.O. Box 389, Helena, MT 59624. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Hagler-Anderson Funeral Home