The City of Menifee is partnering with KB Home to honor the late Army Staff Sergeant Nigel Kelly by naming a street after him. A dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 18 at 10 am in the model home area of the Silvercreek development at the corner of Newport Road and Sergeant Kelly Drive in Menifee.The public is invited to attend.
After multiple childhood moves including a sixyear stint in Saudi Arabia for his father’s career Staff Sergeant Kelly’s family settled in Menifee when he was 14 years old. Kelly was a 6 foot 5 star basketball player at Temescal Canyon High in Lake Elsinore where he attended all four years of high school. His parents continue to reside here and call Menifee home.
Kelly joined the Army at age 18 and did two tours of duty in Iraq before a tour of duty in Afghanistan as an Army Combat Engineer. A natural born leader, Kelly loved mentoring and training younger soldiers and had planned on eventually joining the Special Forces.
At age 26, Staff Sergeant Kelly was killed along with another soldier on June 25, 2011, when the enemy attacked his unit during a counterinsurgency assault mission in the rugged area of eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province. He was twice awarded the Bronze Star for Valor, one of the Army's highest honors.
“We are very proud of the leadership and service of Staff Sergeant Kelly, and it is an honor to dedicate the naming of this street in his memory,”says Mayor Scott Mann who will preside at the ceremony. Kelly’s parents Sonia and Kevin Kelly, along with other family members will be the guests of honor at the ceremony.
“KB Home considers it a privilege to collaborate with the city in honoring one of Menifee’s hometown fallen heroes,”says KB Home Senior Director of Marketing Bob Kronenfeld.KBHome will host a reception in one of the new model homes directly following the ceremony. Representatives of land developers and homebuilder Brookfield Residential Southern California will also attend the ceremony. For more information about the upcoming dedication ceremony, please call Menifee City Hall at (951) 672-‐6777.
