Kelly C. Atkinson was born in Union, Utah. As a boy, he suffered a debilitating speech impediment that caused children to laugh and bully him. Kelly's life was changed when his 6th-grade teacher took him under his wing to tutor him. Because of the love and determination of this committed educator and the support of his stepmother, Georgia, Kelly overcame his speech impediment.
Kelly worked his way through the University of Utah as a night custodian. He is the first college graduate in his family. He majored in political science and minored in communications, receiving a bachelor of science degree.
Kelly's love of government caused him to run for political office in 1986. He became the first member of his political party elected from his legislative district since the Great Depression. As a State Representative, Kelly specialized in education legislation, serving on the powerful Education Appropriation Committee during his entire legislative career. He served as the Minority Whip of the Utah House of Representatives from 1990 till 1996, when he left the Utah Legislature to make an unsuccessful bid for United States Congress.
The Deseret News named Kelly one of the "most effective legislators" on Capitol Hill during four of his five terms in office (the newspaper does not rank legislators in their last term). Twice named as Utah's
"Legislator of the Year," Kelly received many honors during his 10-years as a legislator. The Majority Party twice asked him to chair a subcommittee, a rare privilege afforded to a member of the Minority Party by the party in control.
Professionally, Kelly served as the Executive Director of the Utah School Employees Association, representing over 7,200 classified professionals working for Utah's forty school districts. In 1996, he was elected as the President of the most prominent independent public employees Association in the nation at the time, the American Association of Classified School Employees. In 1997, he retired from U.S.E.A. Several years later, he started a successful contract lobbying firm. He retired from his second career in April of 2019.
Kelly is a charter member of the West Jordan Rotary Club, started in 1987 by Bob Landenberger, a hospital administrator. Bob invited Kelly to join the new club. Kelly has served in many different capacities in Rotary and has just completed a three-year term as Rotary Zone Coordinator for Zone 27. He and his wife Penny are members of the Art Klumph Society. He recently finished his second term as President of his beloved West Jordan Rotary Club. Kelly is the recipient of Rotary's "Service Above Self" award, Rotary's highest honor given to a Rotarian.
The Atkinson's have hosted 31 exchange students in their home, and their two boys and two of their three grandsons have experienced a foreign exchange.
Kelly lives in Herriman with his high school sweetheart, Penny. They have been married for 53 years. Penny, a Rotarian, and a P.D.G., is the current Rotary Youth Protection Officer in the district. She has a master's degree in Business Administration and recently retired as a Human Resource specialist.