Obituary for Robert L Kelly
Robert L. Kelly died October 10, 2019. He was born in Audubon, New Jersey on March 11, 1924, the son of Lloyd E. Kelly and Audrey B. Kelly.
He attended Montclair High School in New Jersey and upon graduating in 1943 entered the Navy, where he served as an aviation electronic technician's mate on B-24, Liberator air bases in England. On completion of his naval service he enrolled in Cornell’s mechanical engineering school and while there, married Lesley Dickman of Essex Fells, New Jersey.
Bob graduated with the class of 1950 with a BME degree. He and Lesley moved to Cooperstown, New York where Bob was employed by Remington Arms Company as a project engineer. While there, he received a patent on the design of a self-compensating, gas-operated piston for Remington’s model 878 shotguns. After nine years he was transferred by the parent company, DuPont, to their engineering department in Delaware. He, Lesley and their four children moved to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. With DuPont he was responsible for the design and fabrication of specialized machinery for the production of Dacron, Nylon, Lycra and Kevlar.
In 1982 Bob retired and he and Lesley moved to a home in South Bristol, Maine that he designed and with sons and daughters and son-in-law built as a family project.
Bob and Lesley were divorced in 1986. In 1990 Bob married Audrey Bousquet of Sawyer’s Island, Maine where they lived many happy years before moving to the St. Andrews Retirement Village in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Bob was an active outdoorsman who spent much of his spare time fly-fishing, canoeing, nature hiking, skiing and skating. His true legacy is that he took the time to instill a love of the outdoors in his four children. He enjoyed involvement with young people, coaching little league baseball and ice hockey, and as a volunteer Big Brother. He passed on his knowledge of fly-fishing to his children and several young people who have continued to fish into adulthood.
He also was gifted with an artistic talent that expressed itself in an occasional painting, drawing or cartoon and in a serious hobby of carving and painting life sized songbirds. Many of these carvings now reside in the homes’ of family and friends.
Bob was predeceased by his parents; first and second wife; a sister, Mary Jane Morgan of Brattleboro Vermont; a brother, Richard A. Kelly of Henniker, New Hampshire and his youngest son, Alan Robert Kelly of Homer, Alaska.
He is survived by his son, Steven D. Kelly, of Bozeman, Montana; two daughters, Constance Kelly and her husband Kenneth Seiders, of South Bristol, Maine and Margery Kelly, of Damariscotta, Maine; grandchildren, Eva Kate Seiders, Kyle D. Seiders and Steven Alan Severance. He also leaves behind his two-step daughters, Joy Munoz and Jan Pierce, both of Beverly, Massachusetts and many nieces and nephews.
Bob’s wishes were that no services be held. Should friends desire, a memorial donation may be made to the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04538
He attended Montclair High School in New Jersey and upon graduating in 1943 entered the Navy, where he served as an aviation electronic technician's mate on B-24, Liberator air bases in England. On completion of his naval service he enrolled in Cornell’s mechanical engineering school and while there, married Lesley Dickman of Essex Fells, New Jersey.
Bob graduated with the class of 1950 with a BME degree. He and Lesley moved to Cooperstown, New York where Bob was employed by Remington Arms Company as a project engineer. While there, he received a patent on the design of a self-compensating, gas-operated piston for Remington’s model 878 shotguns. After nine years he was transferred by the parent company, DuPont, to their engineering department in Delaware. He, Lesley and their four children moved to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. With DuPont he was responsible for the design and fabrication of specialized machinery for the production of Dacron, Nylon, Lycra and Kevlar.
In 1982 Bob retired and he and Lesley moved to a home in South Bristol, Maine that he designed and with sons and daughters and son-in-law built as a family project.
Bob and Lesley were divorced in 1986. In 1990 Bob married Audrey Bousquet of Sawyer’s Island, Maine where they lived many happy years before moving to the St. Andrews Retirement Village in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Bob was an active outdoorsman who spent much of his spare time fly-fishing, canoeing, nature hiking, skiing and skating. His true legacy is that he took the time to instill a love of the outdoors in his four children. He enjoyed involvement with young people, coaching little league baseball and ice hockey, and as a volunteer Big Brother. He passed on his knowledge of fly-fishing to his children and several young people who have continued to fish into adulthood.
He also was gifted with an artistic talent that expressed itself in an occasional painting, drawing or cartoon and in a serious hobby of carving and painting life sized songbirds. Many of these carvings now reside in the homes’ of family and friends.
Bob was predeceased by his parents; first and second wife; a sister, Mary Jane Morgan of Brattleboro Vermont; a brother, Richard A. Kelly of Henniker, New Hampshire and his youngest son, Alan Robert Kelly of Homer, Alaska.
He is survived by his son, Steven D. Kelly, of Bozeman, Montana; two daughters, Constance Kelly and her husband Kenneth Seiders, of South Bristol, Maine and Margery Kelly, of Damariscotta, Maine; grandchildren, Eva Kate Seiders, Kyle D. Seiders and Steven Alan Severance. He also leaves behind his two-step daughters, Joy Munoz and Jan Pierce, both of Beverly, Massachusetts and many nieces and nephews.
Bob’s wishes were that no services be held. Should friends desire, a memorial donation may be made to the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, Boothbay Harbor, Maine 04538