Founder of Kelty Packs dies at 84

Josh Kleinbaum

When Asher “Dick” Kelty designed his first backpack for sale in 1952,

he did not want his name on it.

“I told him, ‘Well, it’s a short name, it’s easy to remember,’ ”

said Nena Kelty, his wife. “What else are you going to call it? He

was very modest.”

Kelty put his last name on the pack, and Kelty Packs quickly

earned a sterling reputation. Kelty backpacks were used on the first

ascent of Mount Everest’s West Ridge in 1963 and the 1966 National

Geographic expedition to Antarctica.

Dick Kelty, who lived in Glendale since 1922, died of congested

heart failure on Monday.

In his 84 years, Kelty did a little bit of everything. After

graduating from Hoover High School, he attended Curtis-Wright

Aviation School in Glendale, and worked for Northrop and Lockheed

assembling bomber aircraft parts. While working as Lockheed’s liaison

to the Army Air Force base in Wharton, England, he met Nena, and they

married in 1946.

After the war, they moved to Glendale, where he resumed his

passion for backpacking.

“I had never gone backpacking,” said Nena, 81. “But I thoroughly

enjoyed it.”

During Kelty’s backpack expeditions with friends, he thought of

ways to improve the pack. His designs included the first waist strap

and lightweight aluminum frames. He made the packs for friends, and

they encouraged him to sell them. In 1952, he borrowed $500 against

the family home, and Kelty Packs was born.

Kelty is survived by Nena; son Richard; daughters Anita and Angie;

five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Kelty did not want

a memorial service, but contributions can be made in his memory to

the Dick Kelty Scholarship fund at Big City Mountaineers,

www.bigcitymountaineers.org, or the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp

Campaign File 56984, www.latimes.com/extras/summercamp.