Kelly Rosenbaum

Kelly Ray Rosenbaum, 71, of Abilene, TX passed away on January 4, 2025 (same day as his father 14 years prior) in Abilene after a courageous and hard-fought battle with cancer. 

A celebration of his life will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, January 18, 2025, at First Baptist Church of Abilene, TX, with the Reverend Lynn Moore officiating. Services are under the direction of The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Rd., Abilene.

Kelly was born in Spearman, TX to Livingston W. Rosenbaum, Jr. and Viola (Wagner) Rosenbaum on March 14, 1953. His family owned and operated a large farm (1600 acres) just west of Spearman, TX, where he started working at a very young age. He tended to all manner of farm duties, even while he was in school, until he was 23 years old. In 1975, Kelly graduated from Texas Tech University, earning a degree with honors in Landscape Architecture, and later moved to Abilene to begin working. While in Abilene, Kelly met Fredda (Bedford) Rosenbaum at church and they were married on September 13, 1980, and enjoyed 44 years of marriage together.

Kelly worked at Jacob & Martin, LLC from 1990-2023 as a Landscape Architect and Computer Draftsman. He also worked with his son, Lee Rosenbaum, for the last 18 of those years, and at one point, they even had offices right next to each other. Away from work, Kelly loved woodworking and building practical things such as cabinets, bookshelves, or even toys for his children and grandchildren. During the last 10 years of his life, he built an elaborate woodworking shop with Lee and continued to produce unique and high-quality woodworking projects. He was a devoted family man, loving husband, and a wonderful "Paw Paw" for his grandchildren.

Kelly was preceded in death by his parents and three siblings, Teddy Lee, Everett Andrew, and Karen Diane.

Kelly is survived by his wife Fredda; a son Lee and wife Catherine (Deming) of Abilene; a daughter Ada and her husband Mike Warren of Alexandria, VA; his sister Vicki and her husband Randy Collard of Paulsbo, WA; his grandsons Luke Wyatt Rosenbaum and Everett Joel Rosenbaum of Abilene, TX; and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be made to the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation at https://www.cholangiocarcinoma.org or to First Baptist Church of Abilene, 1333 North 3rd Street, Abilene, TX 79601.

The family of Kelly Rosenbaum wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Anton Melnyk, M.D., and the wonderful medical team members of Hendrick Health, Texas Oncology, and Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center for their compassionate care of Kelly throughout his cancer journey.