Timothy "Tim" Kelley
February 1, 1944 ~ May 21, 2026
Tim Kelley, of Mount Vernon, Iowa passed on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at the Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha, Iowa. He drifted away exactly as he’d hoped – in his sleep, after time to say goodbye and put things in order. Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Mount Vernon, is assisting Tim’s family with arrangements.
Tim was born on February 1, 1944, and spent his childhood in Baldwin Park, California. There, at Baldwin Park High, he met the love of his life, Sara. They married and escaped together to live a life of grand adventures and fabulous meals from Florida to Paris to Zurich to Hollywood, and finally settled in Mount Vernon, (drawn by the lure of grandparenthood). Nothing brought Tim more pride than his grandkids, Rylie and Jack, and being a daily presence in their lives.
Engineering was Tim’s work, his recreation, his art, and how he spoke. From the moment he could hold tools, he took apart every machine within reach to figure out how it worked. In high school, he hustled spending money by converting hot rods from column shifters to four-on-the-floors. In his first job out of high school, he designed components for Saturn V rocket engines that launched the Apollo missions to the moon. In 1966, he started working as a draftsman at Disney. Quickly recognized for his mechanical aptitude and artistry, he became an “Imagineer”, and stayed one, in spirit, for the rest of his days. In 1973, the company sent Tim to Florida to build their Ride and Show Engineering team. Their charge was to take over engineering support for rides and effects once installed, and in that capacity, there were few machines at Disney that Tim didn’t touch — always with an eye toward keeping them safe and reliable. He had a hand in making dozens of popular rides, including Pirates of the Caribbean, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Test Track, Tower of Terror, and Haunted Mansion. In 1989, he established and led the engineering group responsible for creating the rides and mechanical effects for Disneyland Paris. Tim was never one to brag, but he often told his family that the proudest moment of his career was opening the Paris theme park with every ride and mechanical show element fully operational – an achievement no other major theme park opening has matched. Tim “retired” from Disney in 1995 – and the resulting lack of major engineering challenges almost immediately exceeded the limits of his patience. He went back to work in Zurich for the rollercoaster engineering firm Intamin. He was recruited to return to Disney to help with the Test Track ride. At Universal Studios, he enjoyed a particularly fun chapter developing ride components and “magical” effects for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Tim remained in demand as a consultant across the theme park industry until he finally, (sort of) actually retired.
In recent years, he designed and built electric rowing cycles for people who had lost the use of their legs. Over the past decade, he created his “Animenagerie”, a collection of mechanically animated window displays that became one of the highlights of Mount Vernon’s Magical Night festivities. When he wasn’t tinkering in the background to ensure things ran smoothly, Tim spent each Magical Night inspiring the next generation of engineers, explaining animations’ mechanics to the children they entranced. For his own fun, he created dozens of motorized sculptures; he built several dune buggies (and was featured on the cover of Dune Buggy magazine for one of his innovative designs), and a dizzying array of other motorized conveyances – from go-karts, to chainsaw-motor-powered bicycles, to a hot rod in the style of a 1930s roadster. He taught his son and grandkids how to make things and showed them by example that a simple thing that works beats a fancy thing that breaks.
Beyond the workshop, Tim spent many of his weekend mornings with friends at the Fuel coffee shop in Mount Vernon, debating scientific questions, discussing the news, and sketching explanatory diagrams on napkins. He loved music, long drives, and travel. In the evenings, he enjoyed nothing more than sitting down to a tasty meal and a good margarita or glass of red wine.
Those who will miss him most dearly in life are his beloved wife and adventuring partner, Sara; his son, Sean (Solon, Iowa); his grandkids, Rylie (on her way to a doctoral program at UNC Chapel Hill) and Jack (pursuing a master’s at the University of Iowa); and his sister, Joandell Hahn (Healdsburg, California); and brother, Keith (Las Vegas, Nevada). He was preceded in passing by his parents, Marguerite and Charles; and his brothers, Ted and Paul.
Tim was never one for ceremony and wanted no memorial service – just for all the friends and family he loved to remember how much he loved them. Sara, Sean, and Joandell have been instructed to scatter his ashes on his favorite California beach on a summer day.
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I met Tim at Fuel through old friends when I started making regular trips back to Mt. Vernon, and almost every time I went for coffee, I was almost sure to run into him. I felt so lucky and privileged to make his acquaintance and I always looked forward to the conversations. He had done so much and had so much to say. He was such a remarkable and gifted man, always so warm and welcoming, so interesting, and so modest, friendly, smart and funny. My thoughts are with Sara and the rest of the family.
Blessings & Love,
Anne & Mike Muller
Healdsburg, CA
I worked with Tim when I was at Disney Imagineering in the 80’ and 90’s and a little bit after he went into consulting. I came from an aerospace company, and it took a while for me to adjust to the theme park way of doing things. Tim was a mentor and model who helped me and countless others make that transition. He brought so much expertise, kindness, humor, and steadiness to the projects. Tim was an excellent team leader and exhibited a deep knowledge and practical approach to solving engineering problems.
Tim influenced many thousands of Cast Members and millions of Guests in a good way. His impact goes far beyond the work he did.
As I approach retirement, Tim will continue to be a role model for me. I hope I can do retirement half as well as he did.
I met “Uncle Tim” and his adventuring partner in 1966, if memory serves. It was before Sean was born for sure. The sparkle in Tims eyes was captivating…the very energy that drives curiosity in a young boys mind. While I had glimpses of the adventures of my aunt and uncle’s adventures through Joandell’s updates, I imagineered the possible adventures he was living over the years in my mind. Of course I would brag a bit when Disneyland came up in conversation.
In 2003 I had the pleasure to visit my aunt and uncle in Kissimmee Florida with my adventurous partner. The thrill for us was the introduction to firefly’s, and for me, it was the gifted privilege of driving his self~made car. Reminded me of a coupe version of the Great Race car in the similarly named movie, only red. Tim’s car was marvelous…and pretty darn fast for a two lane country road. The leaf spring front suspension blew my mind.
The last time I had the privilege to be in their company was one year ago. Uncle Tim still had that sparkle in his eyes. Especially when his life partner was in his midst. Tim was not shy about donning our familiar wigs. He was special because as unique as he was individually, he made those that interacted with him feel unique in their own space. That ability he gave to the world carry’s on with his family, both personal and extended. What better a gift can anyone give humanity than that gift?
Until we meet again…
Danny
I remember having fun with Sean at the Kelly’s home near Kissimmee. Tim was always there, working on something in the garage. Great memories of a great man.
My little brother Tim was born in 1944 during WWII. I was four years old. Our father was working in San Francisco for Bethlehem Steel; building ships for the war effort.
My first memory of baby Tim was the fateful afternoon, mom mopping the floor, Tim rocking back and forth in his highchair. A crash, a scream, a deep cry. Thank goodness Tim was not knocked out for too long – mom’s operettic screaming voice returned him to consciousness; it is time for ‘big sister’ to take charge. I loved that little guy. His smile was radiant. Allergic to milk, a nanny goat was brought onto the ‘farm’. Older brother milked the goat before school, and I cuddled and held the baby bottle; the goat milk smelling awful! He smiled, was contented and it obviously made him healthy! He actually turned out to be smart, creative, artistically talented, and an innovative thinker! We loved the ‘little rascal’.
It was several years later I realized Tim could spell better than brother Paul and me! We often asked for his help with spelling, until he started giving us wrong answers! We asked Tim why he gave us the wrong spelling! Mom overheard us and answered the question for Tim, “You two get out your dictionaries, Tim can’t spell for you for the rest of your life.” I could see a strange look on Tim’s face. Was he in trouble? Or was he saved? He was not sure. We started using our dictionary.
Often our family evening meals were chicken – usually fried! Mom would prepare the chicken – and would ALWAYS save the gizzard and fry it for Tim. We teased Tim about this. He would take that small piece of his favorite part of the chicken out the back door, sit on the porch step and would enjoy his dinner in peace and quiet. I do believe Tim craved peace and quiet while held captive in a caustic and full household.
In junior high school (circa 1956) Tim started making his own shoes. CREATIVE! He had been wearing shoes that didn’t fit, were lined with carboard because of holes in the bottom. In Sunday school, he learned about “Jesus’ shoes”. He collected car tire rubber and made the straps from bicycle tire rubber. I don’t know how he made these shoes – he wore them all through school. (A shoe concept that came along later – the BURKENSTOCK! ) Also, Tim wore recycled boy scout uniforms to school. He was introduced to these by dad who used this idea as a means of collecting cracked bowling pins from bowling allies – the maple wood inside was then used for creating and selling shelves and salt and pepper shakers – income needed to feed the family. These were hard times for Tim and the family. Tim learned INNOVATION!
Tim’s daily life improved when he entered Baldwin Park High School “Home of the BRAVE”. He met the ‘love of his Life Sara’ in their Freshman year 1958! Sara, wiser by 31 days, took Tim under her gentle wings, gave him refuge with her parents and together they joined a powerful life sustaining force. On June 29, 1963, both reaching 19 years of age were married. They built their beautiful lives together with common goals: forever love; protection of each other, collaboration and respect.
Always generous with family; $25.00 a month was generously sent to Mom for her support after dad passed away in 1976 to her passing in 1995. Purchased a set of tires for me when he found I was traveling in a car with four children and driving on bald tires! These are just two examples of Tim and Sara’s kindnesses.
Gifted with excellent problem-solving skills, after retirement Tim would often visit just to find areas where he could improve my life. He repaired anything that was broken. Replaced parts, put a new window in the garage for more light, repaired the garage door that was damaged and long past its prime. One visit was removing and replacing tile under a dishwasher that had a hidden water leak! Tim saw things he could make better and fixed them thus making life better for all who were blessed to know him. Often, Sara was at his side helping. Tim was truly an enthusiastic design engineer, thought creatively, was an excellent problem solver who developed ideas, collaborated, possessed excellent interpersonal teamwork skills essential for oral and written communications – Tim was innovative and kind. Thank you Sara for all the love and support you gave to brother Tim for 63 years. We, the family recognize and respect your participation Sara in Tim’s many life’s achievements. You were a team!
Love to you Sara, Sean and the grands!
My dad, Chuck, was so proud to be Tim’s friend. He admired how smart and creative Tim was, and loved to tell stories about their Baldwin Park antics. He loved hearing about Tim & Sara’s adventures around the world, receiving emails every Christmas with photos and video clips of Tim’s projects or window displays, and enjoying their company whenever they visited Northern California.
Sara and family, I am so sorry for your loss. I’d like to believe that Dad, Tim, and Jerry are together wherever what’s next might be, having a good laugh and working on all the hot rods.