Daniel Joseph Kelley

Daniel Joseph Kelley of Jacksonville, Florida, formerly of Charlottesville, Virginia and Chatham, New Jersey passed away peacefully on May 25, 2017 at Westminster Woods of Julington Creek. He was 91 years old. Dan was born on January 27, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he grew up across the river from Philly in Moorestown, New Jersey. His parents were James Edward Kelley and Helen Veronica Mahoney. He was the fifth of six children, born into an energetic, clever, fun-loving family. He remained close to his siblings (Jimmy, Patsy, Jack, Peggy, and Ann) all their lives, although he out-lived them by many years. When they got together as adults, they liked nothing better than sitting at the dinner table for hours, nursing scotch and sodas while heatedly debating every topic under the sun, especially politics. Their children remember hearing animated voices, spirited disagreements, and lots of laughter. Many years later, Dan liked to provoke those kinds of lively conversations with his younger relatives; he could be a rascal. A strong legacy the Kelley siblings gave their children is their example of never complaining when life got difficult, but simply buckling down and doing what needs to be done. They were a strong, resourceful bunch who grew up during the Great Depression. Dan worked hard his whole life, even as a youngster. One of his first jobs was as a pin re-setter at the Moorestown bowling alley. He actually laid on a platform over the pins, picked them up by hand, and put them back into position so the bowler could bowl the next frame. All the Kelley siblings were expected to help out during those hard times; in fact during the 1940s, they worked to successfully put each other through college. Dan was a graceful athlete who enjoyed playing golf, tennis and paddle ball well into his 70s. In high school, he and his sisters and brothers were on the cheerleading squad, and when they got together years later, they enjoyed performing The Moorestown Locomotive cheer to the great amusement of their children. Dan was also on the gymnastics, swimming and diving teams. (Diving skills would come in handy in 1959 when Dan’s boss sent him to Cuba to buy sugar, and he got caught in the Cuban Revolution. He ended up teaching Fidel Castro’s son Fidelito how to dive at the pool at the Havana Hilton!) Dan graduated from high school in 1943, as World War Two raged. He joined the Navy which sent him to officer training school at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. He was later stationed in Puerto Rico, training to be a bombardier when the war ended. He came home to finish his education at Gettysburg College where he earned a degree in physics. After the war, Dan secured a job with General Foods Corporation, the company he worked for until he retired more than 40 years later from his position as plant manager at the Maxwell House Coffee facility in Hoboken, NJ. Interestingly enough, his first job with GF was also in Hoboken; he started as a scientist in the lab at the Franklin Baker Coconut plant. It was there that he had the great fortune to meet Marie Vissers, a lovely young recent immigrant from Belgium who worked in the quality control department. They married in 1952, and had a beautiful life together, devoted to each other for 55 years until Marie died of Parkinson’s disease in 2007. As Marie’s disease progressed, Dan took care of her every need. They exemplified how to live a generous, loving, dignified life. Dan and Marie Kelley had four children. Having an optimistic and playful nature, Dan reveled in the role of father. He was the sort of father who would walk on his hands around the back yard while the kids raced around picking up the coins that fell out of his pockets. When he was young, he liked to play the bongo drums while singing along to Harry Belafonte; he could sing every word of the songs from The Music Man; his favorite movie was Friendly Persuasion. His Spanish was hopeless, but he taught his children how to speak pig-Latin in which he was fluent. He took his young family on long, adventurous road trips in their wood-paneled station wagon where musicals rang out from 8-track tapes. Always smartly dressed, Dan only wore tan and grey, placed great importance on good manners, and could be a bit of a snob. He was fond of saying in a sonorous voice, “The ox is slow, but the earth is patient.” When Dan retired from General Foods in 1988, he and Marie travelled the world and made friends easily. Their home in Chatham, NJ was a welcoming place where friends and family often stayed. By then, Dan had become quite the stained glass artist, an art form he practiced until his hands got too arthritic several years ago. He made dozens of stained-glass windows, and his children and grand-children feel lucky to own these beautiful pieces of art which remind us of him every day. Dan Kelley lived the last few years of his life at a wonderful facility near Jacksonville, Florida called Westminster Woods of Julington Creek. He became a quieter version of his old self, but still enjoyed life and regularly played bridge and pool with his friends there. He continued to follow world events, golf matches, and scientific news, especially astronomy. Every summer, he even managed to continue a 60-plus-year tradition of piling all his family into a rented beach house for an annual reunion. Having great interest in his grandchildren’s adventures, Dan got an iPhone and an Instagram account to keep up with them. As the condolences roll in, the words we see again and again to describe Dan Kelley are: kind, loving, funny, welcoming and generous. He had a wry wit right up until the last week of his life when he was still making his nurses smile. All his life he was exceptionally generous with his time, his affection and his money. He recently said that he planned to run out of breath and money at the same time …which he almost did. Family members who will forever miss and love Dan Kelley include his four children: David Kelley and his wife Marina of Glenmoore, PA; Maureen Kelley Herth and her husband Jim of St. Augustine, FL; Karen Kelley Frost and her husband Jack of Columbus, OH; and Danna Kelley Hill of Charlottesville, VA; as well as 10 grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and dozens of nieces and nephews. The family wishes to express our deep gratitude to the loving caretakers at Westminster Woods of Julington Creek, especially the nurses in the Health Care unit who cared for Dan at the end of his life. Their incredible kindness, patience and respect toward Dan will never be forgotten. On May 19th, Dan was delighted and somewhat overwhelmed to receive the Governor’s award for distinguished service in World War Two along with nine of his fellow residents. As fate would have it, that was his last good day… and a very good day it was. A private memorial service will be held for Dan Kelley at the ocean this summer when his family is reunited at their annual beach vacation. We know he will be there in spirit.