Kelty.org

Theodore (Ted) Alexis Kelty died peacefully at home, February 26th, 2009, with his wife, Anne, and two sons, Christopher and Kevin, at his side. Ted was born in 1935 to Paul Deane Kelty and Alvina Schwindt in Denver, Colorado and lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming with his sister Sharon. Their father Paul died when Ted was eight; and his mother later married Raymond Murphy, and had two children with him, Linda and Patrick. The family grew up together in Cheyenne and later Denver; “Murph” was dearly loved by Ted.
Ted attended high school in Cheyenne, built soap-box racers, learned Indian dancing and spent much time fly fishing on the Platte River, before joining the Navy in 1952.

In the Korean War, Ted served in the Navy as a cryptographer, working in the old bomb shelter caves of Yokuska, Japan to decipher and encode classified messages. He was incredibly proud of his time, and the experience of living in post-war Japan had a deep and lasting impact on him. He was honorably discharged to San Francisco in 1956.

From San Francisco, Ted answered an ad to work for the summer at the newly established Harrah’s Club in South Lake Tahoe, where he learned to deal and to oversee the gaming tables. He stayed at Harrahs for 16 years, advancing into management during the golden age and boom times of Tahoe resort gaming. Coincidently, Anne Stacy answered the same San Francisco advertisement, and the two met at Harrah’s Tahoe. They were married shortly afterwards in Zephyr Cove, honeymooned in New Orleans, and bought a home in Cave Rock where they hosted friends and family for many years. Ted often told entertaining and sometimes outrageous stories of traveling with and entertaining high rollers, at Bill Harrah’s Idaho ranch, at remote resorts in Mexico and Baja California, and in New Orleans and elsewhere.

Sons Christopher and Kevin were born in 1972 and 1975 respectively. In 1978, Ted moved the family to southwest Reno to join Del Webb’s Sahara Casino and oversee the building of the Sahara Reno. In 1983, he was asked to become Vice President of Operations at Sahara Tahoe, and the family briefly moved back to the Lake, before deciding instead to stay in Reno.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Ted worked in the gaming industry in variety of management roles, from pit boss to surveillance expert to casino manager. His expertise and experience was widely recognized by his peers and co-workers, even though the industry was changing to a corporate-run entertainment business which often undervalued such experience and commitment. Ted worked at nearly all of the major institutions in Reno and Tahoe: Circus Circus, Eddie’s Fabulous Fifties, Atlantis, Gold Dust West, Harold’s Club, Horizon, and High Sierra. For the last several years, unwilling to retire, Ted worked in surveillance at Western Village, until the end of 2008.

Ted had many passions throughout his life. As a youngster he was a boy scout in Cheyenne, and later learned “Ki-Ann” Indian dancing, which he performed around the area, including for the governor of Wyoming. He loved fly fishing; taught himself to tie his own flies and would spend hours on the Truckee river and other rivers throughout the west. He taught himself crafts and construction of all kinds: welding, wood-working and cabinetry and built or repaired everything from soap-box racers and go-carts to furniture and chandeliers to bird-houses and toys to tables for Anne’s extensive Bonsai collection. He learned to fly small planes and he loved to golf, especially in the many Casino-sponsored tournaments he had the opportunity to participate in. He was an avid reader, and an especially big fan of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. He also loved flowers; don’t hesitate to send them.

Ted is survived by his wife and two sons, his daughter-in-law Hannah, his grand-daughter Ida, his sister and brother-in-law Sharon and Don Dendauw, his sister Linda Kessler, and his brother and sister-in law Patrick Murphy and Jayne Holtman.

A memorial service will be held at Ross, Burke and Knobel, 2155 Kietzke Lane, on Saturday March 7th, 2009 at 3pm. A reception for family and close friends will follow at his home.