James Edward Kelly Jr.

James Edward Kelly, Jr. passed away on August 22, 2024. Jim was born on June 20, 1942 to Ed and Edna Kelly, the eldest of three. He spent most of his childhood in North Arlington, New Jersey with his parents, his sister, Joyce and his brother, John. Jim loved to share childhood stories of working at the butcher shop with his dad, summer vacations at his grandparents’ place in the mountains and playing ball with the neighborhood kids almost every day.

On September 24, 1966, Jim married the love of his life, Grace Ann (Weber). Jim and Grace raised their family in Basking Ridge, New Jersey and have celebrated over fifty-seven beautiful years of marriage together.

Along with his wife Grace, Jim is survived by his two children– their son Patrick and his wife Diane of Basking Ridge, NJ; their daughter Susan (Hannan) of Chapel Hill, NC and her husband, Kevin; and two grandchildren, Kaitlyn and Jordan (Hannan). Jim is also survived by his younger brother, John and his wife Kathy of Nutley, NJ, as well as his nieces, his nephew and many friends who will miss him dearly. Jim is now reunited with his loved ones that predeceased him, including his parents Ed and Edna and his younger sister Joyce (Oravitz).

Jim graduated from Rutgers University in 1964 and served in the U.S. Army Reserves until he was honorably discharged in 1970. Jim started his career at Price Waterhouse & Co. as a Certified Public Accountant. He progressively advanced his career by leading various companies in business restructuring, financial controls and SEC reporting. Jim enjoyed the opportunity to travel the world while developing and implementing business strategies for both domestic and international companies. Jim retired as the Vice President of Finance & Administration at Thales Components Corporation. Upon retirement, Jim and Grace moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

In Chapel Hill, Jim settled well into retirement. He enjoyed traveling with Grace, spending time with his grandchildren, reading countless books, playing pool and lunching with friends. Jim also continued his lifelong passion of studying anything and everything related to baseball.

A Celebration of Life service will be held on September 14, 2024 at 1:30 PM at Apex Funeral Home, in Apex, North Carolina with a reception for family and friends immediately to follow.

Additional services will be held on Friday, September 27, 2024 at 10:00 AM at Grace Lutheran Church, 223 Ridge Road in North Arlington, New Jersey. Immediately following the church service, the interment will be held at Arlington Cemetery Association in Kearny. All family and friends are invited to a lunch reception at 12:00 PM at Roma Ristorante in North Arlington.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made under his name to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org or The Marfan Foundation at marfan.org.

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