(Kris wrote the following for De's memorial service at Paramount. Not all of it was delivered, however, due to time constraints. The final part -- noted below the poem -- is the part which she actually delivered.)

In one of his wonderful STAR TREK poems, DeForest Kelley wrote:

Isn't it strange how one person you know
Can change the way your life will go?"

Gene Roddenberry was that one person for De; De was that person for me.
I will never forget for many of the same reasons you won't, but there's more… I'll try
to explain in De's own winning style and meter.

A long time ago in Washington State
DeForest Kelley altered this teenager's fate
Launching my fledgling career as a writer
Making my future seem suddenly brighter.

Not long ago from his hospital bed
De called to ask, "Can you lend me a hand?"
He said he was coming to the end of his road
And needed someone to help lighten the load.

I felt honored, yet frightened: and so far BEYOND sad
To learn I'd be losing the mentor I had
But he kept it light-hearted and counseled me so
I almost forgot that he'd actually go.

I'd drive him around, we'd tie up loose ends
We'd laugh and we'd cry, the way with good friends
In so many ways he has blessed my life
With his humor, his talent, with Carolyn, his wife.

Dear De, up in heaven, I hope you can see
All of the love here, in print, on TV
Although politically you were quiet as a mouse
Your final "reviews" have brought down the house.

(This is what Kris Smith delivered at De's Memorial service.) I've said this before, and say it again: I truly believe that DeForest Kelley was the kind of man God had In mind when he created Adam. If this sad old world could boast a much larger population of DeForest Kelleys, it would be the paradise we all wish it would be.

I'll give William Shakespeare the last word.

When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Goodnight, sweet De. Rest well. You've earned it. We will NEVER forget you."