Obituaries

Peter Niles Kelley

Obituary

Peter Niles Kelley

Sept. 26, 1956-July 2, 2024

Peter Niles Kelley, 67, of Edmonds, Wash. — a writer, actor, loving husband, father, brother and uncle — died July 2, 2024, from a resurgence of cancer. He passed peacefully in his sleep, at home with his wife, Elizabeth, and their dog, Vera, close by.

Peter was born in Atlanta on Sept. 26, 1956, to Robert W. and Anne Kelley. Due to Robert’s work as a staff photographer for Life magazine, Peter’s family moved around a lot, relocating to Darien, Conn., in 1957; Evanston, Ill., in 1959; and Edmonds in 1966. Western Washington became home for Peter, and he spent the majority of his life there. 

Peter graduated in 1974 from Edmonds Senior High School, where he first indulged an interest in acting that would take him to the apprentice program at Driftwood Players in Edmonds. As a participant in Young ACT at Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre (now ACT Contemporary Theatre), he appeared in “A Christmas Carol” and toured the state in a youth-directed production of “A Wrinkle in Time.” In 1980 he was seen in ACT’s world premiere of the play “Catholics,” and later that year he co-wrote and co-performed with four friends the comedy revue “Midnight Snack,” in which his parody of astronomer Carl Sagan was called “wonderful” by The Seattle Times’ theater critic.

In his time as a Seattle actor, Peter joined the Actors’ Equity Association and also became an American Federation of Television and Radio Artists member, performing professionally throughout the 1970s and ’80s. He never fully gave up theater, continuing to act from time to time in community theater, industrial films and radio dramas.

Though theater was an enduring passion for Peter, he found his true calling in journalism. After earning his bachelor’s degree in English in 1990 from the University of Washington, he worked as a staff writer for the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello, Idaho. He then served as a reporter, features editor, and Sunday columnist for the Skagit Valley Herald in Mount Vernon, Wash. In 2004, he joined UW’s News and Information Office as assistant editor of the faculty-staff publication University Week. He remained with the office until his retirement in 2021.

In retirement, Peter wrote columns and a few news pieces for the Edmonds Beacon. He also contributed occasional articles to the news office at UW Bothell.

Peter’s reporting earned professional accolades, as did his columns. He particularly relished column-writing as it allowed him to follow in the footsteps of his mother, Anne, who in the ’60s wrote a weekly humorous column called “Housefly” that appeared in the Chicago Daily News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and who also contributed to magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly.

Two major events propelled Peter’s adult life forward: the first was the 1984 birth of his son, Riley Spencer-Kelley; the second was in 1999, when he met his future wife, Elizabeth Vernon, while both worked at the Skagit Valley Herald.

In meeting his future spouse on the staff of a daily newspaper, he replicated the experience of his parents, who had met in 1940 when his father was a photographer for the Post-Intelligencer and his mother was a reporter for the same paper.

Peter and Elizabeth married in 2006. They shared 18 happy years together, marked by trips to Europe, dog walks, Mariners games and time with friends and family.

Peter was a lifelong Beatles fan, though he loathed the term “Beatlemaniac.” In a farewell column written for the Beacon shortly before his death, Peter finally, after 60 years, definitively chose his favorite Beatles song: “Here Comes the Sun.”

Peter loved music in general. He compiled lists of his favorite songs and albums with the enthusiasm and curatorial care of a critic. He did the same with books, noting and rating each one he read. (He rarely scored a book lower than 8/10, but few would get perfect marks, aside from the likes of "Franny & Zooey" by lifelong favorite J.D. Salinger, or "My Life and Hard Times" by James Thurber.)

Some of Peter’s fondest memories include his wedding day; trips to Disneyland with his son; and annual getaways to Whidbey Island, which for years were a tradition for his friend group. He also happily recalled two trips to Europe: as an 8-year-old with his mother and brother to Britain and France in 1965, and with Elizabeth to Paris in 2013.

With Peter's passing the world lost an acerbic wit and a mighty intellect. He was a genuine character, effortlessly personable with strangers and fiercely loyal to friends. 

He had a generous spirit. As an actor, he found particular joy in children’s theater because it was like giving a gift to kids in the audience. When playing catch with his son at the park, he’d invite every neighborhood kid in sight to join in, hoping to brighten their days. He volunteered at his local food bank, and during the holidays, he’d often decorate a neighborhood tree with solar-powered lights in what he called “Random Acts of Christmas,” intended to anonymously bring cheer to passersby.

Peter is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Vernon Kelley of Edmonds; his son, Riley Spencer-Kelley, now of Muskegon, Mich.; his brother, Timothy Kelley, and sister-in-law Anne Hollyday of New York City; his sister, Megan Merriwether, and brother-in-law Glen Merriwether of Port Angeles, Wash.; nephews Brian Kelley and Will Kelley-Kamp; niece Anne Kelley-Kamp and her husband, Abe Wenning; and countless friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Edmonds Food Bank or one’s local food bank.