Gene Kelley

Angels in Adoption 2005 - Arkansas

Selected by Representative John Boozman

Gene Kelley has been an attorney in Rogers, Arkansas , for 37 years and has helped create hundreds of families in Arkansas and across the country. As a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, Mr. Kelley has facilitated more than 700 adoptions. He is a father of five and only works with couples that he would be comfortable placing one of his own children with. He also places a strong emphasis on facilitating good communication between birth mothers and adopting couples. The holidays are a special time at his office because so many of the families he has worked with remember him and send photos, cards, and letters updating him as their children grow. Many of the children he has placed are now graduating from high school and college, and one recently returned to meet the attorney who had helped his family. After graduating from the University of Arkansas Law School in 1967, Mr. Kelley served as a clerk for Arkansas Supreme Court Judge Lyle Brown and as a special justice to the Arkansas Supreme Court. As a member of the Arkansas Bar Association, he served as their spokesperson on an adoption involving an international/domestic issue. Mr. Kelley also worked as Executive Secretary for Senator Dale Bumpers when he served as Governor of Arkansas.