COL GEORGE G. KELLUM, III To TAPS
2506, 02 Mar 2019
Col. George G. Kellum, III, 77 of Venice, Florida formerly of Zionsville, Indiana passed away on February 27, 2019.
George was born January 13, 1942 in Columbus, Georgia. He was a retired Army Colonel serving in the U.S. Army for 25 years and CEO at Ortho Indy (15 Yrs.).
George was a member of Coastal Cruisers and Central Indiana Biking Association.
He attended and received his Master's at the University of San Francisco and was an undergrad at the University of Georgia.
He is survived by his wife Julie A. Kellum, daughter Kristin A. (Arnold) Hart, son Glenn A. (Lisa) Kellum, brother William C. (Wanda) Kellum and two grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to a favorite charity of your choice .
Toale Brothers Ewing Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
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Member Comments on This Bulletin
3/31/2019 8:19:02 PM MAJ G. Robert Smith
I would like to pass along a couple of stories about interactions I had with COL Kellum when we were both stationed in Germany back in 1987. You may recall that he commanded the V Corps Finance Brigade (or was it a battalion; it was so long ago I can't remember), and I was the commander of the 117th AFSC in Wiesbaden.
The first story comes from a court martial board we both sat on. How we were both selected for this one I will never know. There were 6 officers on the board: the Colonel was the president, the other 4 officers were all LTCs in combat arms, and then there was me, the junior officer. The judge asked if there were any factors he should know about the board members. I pointed out that COL Kellum was my boss. The judge asked if that relationship would have any undue influence on me. I replied, "No sir, none whatsoever." COL Kellum chimed in from the other end of the table, in an exasperated voice, "Tell me about it!" Well, that caused a good deal of laughter in the room.
The second story has to do with volksmarches. The Colonel and I did several in the Frankfurt/Wiesbaden area. We usually did the 20 km walks. One day he commented that he had heard I liked to do marathons, and he would like to join me for one. I said of course, and found one not far from Frankfurt a month or so later. We covered the 42 km in about 5 hours, a pretty good pace for 2 guys walking, and we had a grand time. At the end, he and Julie went their way, and Betsy and I went ours. Later that next week I had occasion to call V Corps about some issue, and a friend who worked in the office helped me with it. At the end of our conversation, my friend asked if I had talked to the Colonel lately. I said no, and my friend responded, "Well, don't. The Colonel is ready to kill you. He is so sore from that volksmarch you took him on that he can hardly walk!" Well, needless to say, I avoided him for a week or two (and I laugh about it to this day!).
The last time I saw George and Julie was in Zionsville. I had dinner with them and spent the night at their home. We had a grand time. Now, I wish more than ever that hadn't been the last time. I will miss him.
Smitty
3/6/2019 6:04:45 PM CSM Larry J. Elsom
Karen and I extend our most sincere condolences to the Kellum Family.
Larry Elsom