Richard Drury Irvin and Terrance Robert Kelly

April 2025

Richard Drury Irvin

September 19, 1946–December 9, 2024

Richard Drury Irvin passed away on December 9, 2024. An active member of the Boulder legal community for many years, Rich will be remembered for his integrity and sense of humor. He was a past president of the Boulder County Bar Association (2010–11) and remained active in the BCBA and the wider legal community until multiple sclerosis forced him to retire in 2016. He received the BCBA’s Ron Porter Award of Merit in 2019. Even in retirement, Rich was always ready to get together with the many colleagues who had become friends over the years.

Rich was born September 19, 1946, in Dayton, Ohio, the oldest of four children born to Dr. Robert and Margo (Drury) Irvin. He grew up in Painesville, Ohio, and spent summers lifeguarding at Headlands Beach State Park on Lake Erie. Rich graduated with honors in history from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and worked for several years as a social worker. It was while working a summer job during his college years, gathering data for the EEOC (Head Start eligibility for low-income families) in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, that Rich realized he wanted to become a public defender/criminal defense attorney: he had been falsely charged with a major traffic offense, and the police tried to force a confession. Rich presented substantial evidence that he could not have been involved in the matter at hand. The judge ultimately dismissed the case, but Rich realized that if this could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.

After graduation from Ohio University, Rich worked in the Lake County Department of Social Services by day while attending Cleveland State University College of Law at night until 1971, when he transferred to the University of Colorado School of Law, where he received his JD in 1973.

During his time at CU, Rich was involved with its clinical program, and he credited his law school experiences with leading him into a career that he dearly loved. Upon his admittance to the bar in 1974, Rich joined the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, serving in Denver and Boulder. He loved to tell the story of having a jury trial on his second day on the job. And as those who knew him could attest, he had many other stories he would often recount as a public defender and later in private practice (1980–2016). During his tenure as BCBA president, Rich was tasked with writing a monthly column for the association’s newsletter. Rich’s love for movies shone out in these columns as he linked a film (or two) with a legal topic (or two). Take for example, Miracle on 34th Street, which he linked to the election of judges versus Colorado’s retention system. Or Body Heat, in which the rule against perpetuities became pivotal. Those who worked alongside Rich (defense attorneys, DAs, judges, court personnel) will recall Rich’s colorful and passionate style in the courtroom and his dedication to providing a zealous defense to clients from all walks of life. As his daughter commented at an early age to a friend, Rich went to court “to make things fair.”

Rich was a true extrovert who lived life to the fullest and thrived on good conversation, novel experiences, and an appreciative audience for his stories and (bad) jokes. He was passionate about history, movies, music, travel, and the CU Buffs. You might find him atop a Mayan pyramid in Guatemala or walking on the Great Wall of China; or maybe he would be hiking to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu or wandering through the ruins of Ephesus, camera in hand. It was important to Rich to stay active: he ran the first Bolder Boulder and as many as he could thereafter; skied Steamboat, Eldora, Breckenridge, and elsewhere with friends and later his daughter; and enjoyed biking, snowshoeing, and hiking in the Rockies. He loved to swim, from open water swimming in Lake Erie to the YMCA, Scott Carpenter Pool, and the Meadows Club in Boulder, and always got a lot of good thinking done while grinding out those laps. Even when MS began to limit Rich’s mobility, he continued to push himself. He was a past president of the CU Director’s Club (now Forever Gold) and the Meadows Swim and Tennis Club, and was involved with Boulder Rotary Club and the Boulder Philharmonic.

Rich married Ruth Kromminga (now Irvin) in 1987 after they met at a Colorado Trial Lawyers Association conference in 1985, and for many years they practiced law together as Irvin & Irvin. Their daughter, Margo, is married to Scott Baez (he’s a lawyer, too), and they live in California.

Donations in Rich’s name may be made to the Clinical Education Program Fund at CU Law School or the Boulder Philharmonic.

Terrance Robert Kelly

August 15, 1943–February 15, 2025

Loving husband, father, son, brother, grandpa, friend, and attorney Terry Kelly passed away on February 15, 2025, at the age of 81.

Terry was born August 15, 1943, and raised in Decorah, Iowa, where he attended St. Benedict’s Elementary School and then St. Francis De Sales High School in nearby Ossian, where he played basketball and baseball. In 1965, he earned his bachelor’s degree in English at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where he was on the debate team and president of his senior class. At Notre Dame Law School, he was one of the founders of the university’s legal aid clinic and graduated in 1968.

He met his wife, Alice Steffens Kelly, in Dubuque, and they married in July 1966. Following law school, Terry earned a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship from the University of Pennsylvania before moving to Portland, Oregon, to begin his career as a legal aid attorney. He and Alice then moved to Colorado in 1969, where Terry worked for Denver Legal Aid before starting his own law practice in 1972. His work as a civil litigator focused on family law, employment law, and constitutional law, and the law firm grew into Kelly/Haglund/Garnsey & Kahn. In the early 1980s, they partnered with several other law firms to renovate a warehouse at 18th & Blake Street into offices and were early pioneers in the rebirth of Lower Downtown.

Terry was a terrific father to Beth, Ben, and Luke, coaching soccer teams and sharing a passion for baseball (his all-time favorite player was Jackie Robinson), reading, and travel. He and Alice were regulars at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. They took care of all of their grandchildren every Wednesday from their earliest weeks through their grade school years. He was also an unconventional cook.

Terry was deeply involved in his Denver community. He was appointed by the Colorado Supreme Court to the Grievance Committee, was chair of the CBA Family Law Section, and served on the board of directors of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. In the 1980s, he served on a committee that represented Greater Park Hill neighborhood interests on noise mitigation issues with the airlines and the city. His pro bono legal services over his career supported family, neighbors, and his community.

We remember his sharp wit and endless generosity. He loved mentoring young attorneys, and he shared his time—and many reading recommendations—with friends, neighbors, and loved ones.

Terry was predeceased by his devoted parents, Bill and Lucille Kelly; his brothers, Eugene and David Kelly; and sister, Martha Kelly Foltz. He is survived by his wife, Alice; his daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Rogelio Corona; his son and daughter-in-law, Ben and Kate Kelly; and his son and daughter-in-law, Luke and Jane Kelly, who all reside in the Denver area. Terry is also survived by his seven grandchildren: Diego and Rose Corona; Allie, Jake, and Meghan Kelly; and Ava and Will Kelly. He is also fondly remembered as a wonderful uncle for many Kelly and Steffens nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations on Terry’s behalf may be made to the Legal Aid Foundation of Colorado, Denver League of Women Voters, or Denver Public Library Friends Foundation.