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Funeral escort for US Army veteran Kelsey A. Begaye
August 24, 2021 @ 8:30 am - 10:00 am
TUBA CITY, AZ – The family of US Army veteran Kelsey A. Begaye is humbly requesting a funeral escort on two separate days, August 20th and 24th.
Staging: August 24 Tuesday, 8:30am (DST) Valley Ridge Mortuary, Tuba City, Az.
KSU: 9:00am
Destination:11am (MST) Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Camp Navajo, Bellemont, AZ (91miles)
Tuesday, August 24, at 11am (MST Time) at Camp Navajo, Bellemont, AZ. Escort to start from Tuba City Funeral Home to Bellmont, AZ. The Sherriff and Coconino County police escort will lead motorcade. (please note difference in time DST rez time versus MST time)
US Army veteran Kelsey A. Begaye was the fifth President of the Navajo Nation, he died at the age of 70. He was a Vietnam veteran. Begaye was born and raised in Kaibeto, Arizona. He was born to the late Wallace and Ada Begaye. He had two brothers and four sisters. He died August 13, 2021. He graduated from Monument Valley High in 1969 and attended the College of Ganado, where he studied chemical addictions and received a state certification in 1979. Begaye enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1969 and served the country for four years as a radio operator in the Republic of South Vietnam. Begaye worked for the Navajo Nation from 1976 to 1990, working as a counselor, a supervisor, a program director, an agency director, and most recently a Program Supervisor III for the Department of Behavioral Health Services.
Begaye was elected to the Navajo Nation Council, representing Kaibeto Chapter in 1991. Then he was elected as speaker of the council in 1996, after which he ran for tribal president in 1999. He served as the president of the Navajo Nation from 1999 to 2003. Begaye in July 2011 was given an honorary doctorate degree – from the United Graduate College and Seminary in North Carolina – for his national advocacy in tribal education and health. Begaye was an ordained minister and served as president of Kaibeto Chapter.
On behalf of the Navajo Hopi Honor Riders, we send our condolences and prayers to the family of US Army veteran Kelsey A. Begaye. We thank you for your service, you will never be forgotten. Rest in peace soldier.
Contact: Kellie Begaye (daughter)