DR. HARMON WATSON KELLEY

 The event will be broadcast at https://www.facebook.com/StLukesEpiscopalChurchSanAntonio. 

Dr. Kelley was born on June 22, 1945, in Cameron, Texas to Harmon & Shirley Kelley. As a boy, he worked in his family’s grocery store and had a daily newspaper route. He was valedictorian of O. J. Thomas High School in 1963.  He then matriculated to Prairie View A&M University, where he graduated cum laude.  While at Prairie View, he was a member of the Army ROTC and commissioned as an officer in the United States Army. He served for 8 years.  At Prairie View, he met Harriet O’Banion and they later married June 21, 1969.

Dr. Kelley attended the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine in Galveston.  After he graduated from medical school, Dr. Kelley went on active duty and he commenced his obstetrics and gynecology residency at William Beaumont Army Hospital in El Paso, Texas. He next was stationed at Ft. Hood in Killeen, Texas where he served as Chief of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Darnell Army Medical Center. 

In 1978, Dr. Kelley moved to San Antonio and he founded Southeast OB-GYN Associates, P.A. where he practiced for 44 years; the past 20 years with Dr. Margaret Kelley, his daughter. Until his arrival, there had not been an Obstetrician and Gynecologist in the Southeast area of San Antonio.  Dr. Kelley was a beloved, kind and competent doctor. He was board certified by the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and was a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. In 2011, he was awarded the Southside Chamber of Commerce Legends Award to honor his commitment and service to the Southside of San Antonio.   

Dr. Kelley has served in a number of positions of physician leadership. From 1983-1984, he served as Chief of Staff of the former Southeast Baptist Hospital. From 1986-1987 and 2000-2001 he served as the Baptist Health System’s Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In addition, from 2001-2004, Dr. Kelley served on the Board of Directors for the Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

Dr. Harmon W. Kelley received a number of distinguished honors. In 2004, The School of Excellence Charter School District in San Antonio, TX established the Dr. Harmon W. Kelley Elementary School in his honor.  In 2006, he was awarded The Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumni (ASDA) Award, the highest alumni honor bestowed by the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine Alumni Association. The award recognizes outstanding service to the medical profession and to humanity. In 2010, he was awarded the Legend Award Who’s Who in Black San Antonio.  In 2011, he received the Bexar County Medical Society’s highest honor, the Golden Aesculapius Award which recognized his lifetime of distinguished service as a Bexar County Medical Society member, to patients and the medical profession.  This honor is not given annually and only given on occasion.  He received the W. B. Russ Lifetime Achievement Award by the Baptist Health System. In April 2017, he received the Graceann Durr Humanitarian Award from the Methodist Healthcare System.  In 2022, he received the C.A. Whittier Lifetime Achievement Award.

During Dr. Kelley’s lifetime he became an authority on African American Art.  He was an emeritus board member of the McNay Art Museum. 

Dr. Harmon W. Kelley died Thursday, January 26, 2023 of a heart attack. He was 77.

Dr. Kelley is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Harriet O’Banion Kelley, daughters, Margaret A. Kelley, M.D.  and Jennifer R. Kelley, LCSW-S, ACSW-MBA, sister Constance Ward (husband Clifford Ward-deceased), brothers, Dr. Danny Kelley (wife Dr. Janice Kelley), David Kelley (wife Karen Kelley), Brother-in-Law Charles H. O’Banion, Esq (wife Miriam O’Banion-deceased), many nieces, nephews and his dog Pippin.  Dr. Kelley was proceeded in death by his parents Harmon & Shirley Kelley and his brother Marvin Wayne Kelley (wife-Brenda Kelley).   

The family would like thank the medical community that provided his care: Dr. Leo Edwards, Dr. Jude Espinoza, Dr. Caridad M Rebollar, Dr. Willy Wu, Dr. Richard Otero, Dr. Oscar Montemayor, Dr. Aldo Parodi, Dr. Dale Wood (deceased), Dr. Sal Barbaro, III, Dr. Roger Muse and his Southeast OB-GYN Associates, P.A. Staff.

Contributions in Dr. Harmon W. Kelley’s honor may be made to:

 The American Heart Association

https://www.heart.org/?form=FUNQCSERKQD

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