Gerald Joseph Kelly

Gerald Joseph “Jerry” Kelly passed away Friday, September 20, 2024. Jerry was a graduate of Middletown High School and St. Michael’s College. After graduating from college in 1956, he served in the Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps, stationed in Newark, New Jersey, where he met Mary Ellen Hannon. After completing his service in 1959, he and Mary got married and moved to Middletown.

For 35 years Jerry worked at Hartford National Bank and Trust (now part of Bank of America) where he retired as a vice president and senior loan officer. Along the way, he received an MBA from Seton Hall University and he graduated from the Schonier School of Banking at Rutgers University. For over forty years he also taught in the evenings at Middlesex Community College, and he taught at Teikyo Post University for 8 years and the New England School of Banking for 25 years.

Jerry was a lifelong traveler and enjoyed many adventures across the country and abroad with his wife Mary and their family, including visits to many European countries, backcountry camping trips in national parks, and visits to Russia, Mongolia, Israel, and Nepal. He had a great interest in learning, and throughout his life studied history, religion, and other topics that caught his interest. His searching nature led him to Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek and its “Holy Scrollers,” a group that met weekly for Torah study.

He is survived by his sisters Mary Grimaldi and Donna Laudano, his children Susan Moran, Gerald Kelly, Jr., Eileen Kelly, and Stephen Kelly, his daughters-in-law Joyce Kelly and Jen Travers, his sons-in-law Anthony Richter and Bill Moran, and his grandchildren Thalia Richter, Will Moran, Ivan Richter, Evan Kelly, Seanan Kelly, and Liana Kelly. He is preceded in death by his wife Mary, his parents John W. Kelly and Hedwig Rook Kelly, his brother John “Jack” Kelly, and his granddaughter Grace Moran.

Jerry’s family will be holding an open house to remember him on Wednesday, September 25, starting at 2:00 pm at his home in Chester. The family plans to pause at 4:00 pm to share memories and prayers. In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged in his name to Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek or the Chatham Conservation Foundation.