John Joseph Kennedy Kelley

1920 - 2003  (83 years)

• Name	John Joseph Kennedy Kelley
  Nickname	Father John / Joe
  Birth	12 Jul 1920	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  Gender	Male
  Death	28 Oct 2003	St. Joseph Care Centre, Spokane, Washington, USA
  Burial	Holy Cross Cemetery, Spokane, Washington, USA
  Person ID	I3295	The McIver Family Tree
  Last Modified	15 Jan 2022

  
  

  Father	Joseph Edward Kelley,   b. 24 Jun 1890, North Wiltshire, Prince Edward Island, Canada d. 30 Aug 1970, Stoneham, Massachusetts, USA (Age 80 years)
  Mother	Evelyn Susanna Kennedy,   b. 13 Mar 1886, Souris, Prince Edward Island, Canada d. 24 Sep 1957, Malden, Massachusetts, USA (Age 71 years)
  Marriage	1917	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
  Family ID	F1362	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Documents » Slide Show		Death Record - Reverend John Joseph Kelley Obituary published in The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington) on October 31, 2003. A brief history of his life as a priest is included.
  		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
  		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
  		Document - John Joseph Kelley WWII Registration Card

  
  

  Headstones

  Headstone - Reverend John Joseph Kelley Located at Holy Cross Cemetery, Spokane, Washington, USA. Plot: Section B

  
  

• Notes

  John Joseph Kelley (called Joe by the family) was born in East Boston, started his education in the public school in Everett and then entered fifth grade at Cheverus School in Sacred Heart parish, Malden. After completing high school at Malden Catholic he attended Boston College and graduated in 1942. Joe was ordained a priest in 1946 for the Spokane diocese (His uncle Father John Kennedy was a priest of that diocese and Boston has a surplus of priests; hence their ‘lend-lease” program to other diocese). Called by his first name, Father John Kelley served on the diocese as a parish priest first at Ephrata, Washington, along with three outlying missions: Soap Lake, Moses Lake and Burke Junction. Joe remembers the area with horses roaming the wild prairies. His other assignments included St. Joseph parish in Spokane where he taught at Marycliff Academy, Assistant Pastor in Richland, and Sacred Heart Parish in Pullman along with the Palouse Missions. In 1956 Joe was assigned as the first pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Othello. This required planning and financing an extensive building program. From there in 1960 he was assigned pastor of Assumption parish on Walla Walla with the task of building a church there, and then in 1968 was made pastor of St. Patrick parish in Walla Walla. Joe had many additional responsibilities while he was pastor, including being a member on the Diocesan Finance Board, chaplain in a Veterans Administration Hospital and administrator of the Catholic cemeteries in Spokane. In the early 1970’s because of his failing health, he had to be relieved of all duties other than being a fulltime chaplain in the VA hospital. He served in this ministry in VA hospitals in Washington, California, Pennsylvania, and Florida. He retired in Miami where he had ministered in the VA hospital there. He returned to Spokane about 1993 where he lived with other retired diocesan priests on the Rockwood Apartments. Later because of diminishing health Father John Kelley resided in St. Joseph Care Center in Spokane. He died October 28, 2003 after a long battle with diabetes and the resulting complications.