SpeedVegas instructor’s spirit will be ‘forever with us,’ son says

Gil Ben-Kely’s personality was too big to be contained inside the wooden casket in which his body was buried on Wednesday, his son said.

“That’s why he’ll forever be with us,” Shon Ben-Kely said during the service.

Ben-Kely, 59, was killed Sunday in a crash at SpeedVegas, where he worked as a driving instructor.

About 150 people attended his funeral at King David Memorial Chapel in Las Vegas. His wife of 37 years, Antonella, and his daughter, Nathalie Ben-Kely-Scott, were seated near the front among family.

Rafi Brosh said his older brother loved life and was always optimistic.

“And fear was not a word in his dictionary,” Brosh said.

Ben-Kely’s son said SpeedVegas was such a big part of his father’s life, he would stop by the track on his days off.

“Gil was one in a million and it was a privilege to have him on our team. His passion for life had a positive (effect) on everyone he met. Our hearts are with his family today,” SpeedVegas CEO and co-founder Aaron Fessler wrote in a statement to the Review-Journal.

A mixture of laughter and sobbing echoed throughout the room as photos of Ben-Kely throughout his life played on a slideshow. Some family friends wore red T-shirts with the Ferrari logo that read: “Team Gil.”

“As much as it hurts, he needs us to just keep going,” Nathalie Ben-Kely-Scott said to the congregation as she fought back tears.

Review-Journal writer Richard N. Velotta contributed to this report. Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.