John Kelly

It will never be the same again

I have met John seven years ago. John was the kind of person that you meet and feel like an old friend right away. For all these years meeting him at various mathes and events was the highlight and delight. Shooting IDPA will never be the same without him. RIP, Johh. I have a feeling we, the local shooters, were your family. I certainly feel this way now. I will miss you much. Thank you for the pleasure knowing you.
 
John Kelly at the New England Regional IDPA

RIP John... Here is a photo of him taking a break at the New England Regional IDPA Championship at the Harvard Sportsmens Club in 2009. John was a great friend of all the practical shooting sports and he will be greatly missed.

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Hello, all:

I didn't know John well, but, was 'very close to the situation, in the aftermath'.......

I certainly know him much-better, through reading every post in this thread. The heart, and substance, of a person can be well-felt in the remembrances and sentiments expressed by those he/she has affected in-life.....

Although there is no formal word yet, given that John had been on medication for a heart condition...from what I am told...and the circumstance/position in which he was found, it would seem that he did succumb to heart problems. It was suggested that it appears as though he did pass quickly, and likely relatively-painlessly..... Though the physical heart may have had it's weaknesses, the spiritual Heart of this man was obviously strong and has, hopefully, carried/enabled him into the Kingdom.

Life here, and time, is fleeting and his passing, to his 'greater benefit, and in the spirit he showed while here', will ideally serve as cause for all to take great pause and more-deeply and -sincerely consider life's purpose, and just how/to what degree one may or may not be fully 'realizing' it.........

I may have more to say/share a bit later. I have printed out, at least some of the pages of posts in this thread, to give to his sister, now in the area.

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[Note: I am, obviously, new to the forum, having just learned about it today..... Excellent, indeed. Looking forward to spending more time here. It is quite possible that I know, or have briefly met, at least a few of you over the years.....]
 
Got this from someone who called the funeral home to confirm.

Services will be held at:

Kraw-Kornack Funeral Home
1248 Washington Street
Norwood, MA
Phone: 781-762-0482
http://www.kraw-kornackfuneralhome.com/home.htm
(Directions can be found on web site)

Calling Hours - Wed 4-8
Funeral: Thursday - 10:00 am only (Services will not be held at church or cemetery)

Damn it. Just head about this. I'm not one of those people who says all sorts of glowing things about a person because they died. However, John was one of the most genuine, friendly, decent people I have ever had the pleasure to know. I am VERY sorry to hear of his passing. I really liked that man and always called him "Mr Kelly" because something about him just made me want to show him that level of respect. He just had that effect on me, and I bet I'm not the only one....RIP Mr Kelly.

Bump for services...

And WB, I never even thought about it until I read your post;

I was also among those who addressed him as "Mr. Kelly"... I'm still stunned.

Respectfully,
Mooney
 
I had the pleasure of ROing him many times at Pioneer...he was always a class act, a gentleman, and an all around nice guy. His gentle candor, good advice and warm smile will be missed. I'm in shock.

Mark
 
A true loss. Does anyone have a link to an Obit (I want to get the info posted with his USPSA classification record)
 
someone posted in this thread a link to the funeral home. Click on obituaries there, and then his name..
Thanks. He wasn't on their list when I first looked. I've made the final entry to his USPSA classification record.
 
This is sad news for the shooting world in New England, my son Andrew and I worked the New England Regionals last year with John and he taught my son Andrew what it took to be a good SO and then let him lose to run the shooters through one of the most difficult stages of the match. We will miss him........
the sport lost a Good Man......... ......
Cover! Cover! Cover!
 
Hard to Believe this is true. I never met a more welcoming friendly man. After my first time shooting with him in the same squad, I always looked forward to seeing him at the IDPA matches. He always spoke kindly and offered supporting advice with just the right tone and timing. We have all lost an admired friend.. He will really be missed by all I am sure for a long time.

RIP John and may God Bless you.

All down zero's now for sure!
 
I have been keeping this NES window open all day and I find myself checking this thread over and over, typing replies and then deleting them because I'm just not quite sure what to say.

I knew John well enough to know that I should have made more of an effort to know him better.

Horrible as it may seem, one of my favorite memories is of him screwing up on the last stage of the night. I think we were the last squad to finish. If I remember correctly I think we even had car headlights lighting up the pit.

Course of Fire: (on buzzer) to turn around and stab a close proximity foam target and continue shooting the rest of the string.

I heard the buzzer, I saw John turn and his arm swing towards the target 1.5 feet away. I heard a strange frustrated grunt as the target fell and he continued on to finish the rest of the string.

I heard my brother laughing hysterically next to me. I looked down at the target and saw a brazillion plastic knife lacerations in the down-zero area from all the shooters who had already run this stage and gone home. We found John's plastic knife lodged in the shoulder of T1 for a down 3.

I remember John walking back to look at the target with a smirk on his face trying to hold back his smile. He tried explaining how he had gained too much momentum; the motion of his arm was unstoppable and the knife ended up wherever it wanted to go. It was a great end-of-day moment at his expense.

I remember thinking: It's a good thing he can shoot a gun because he doesn't appear to be great with a knife.
 
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RIP John... Here is a photo of him taking a break at the New England Regional IDPA Championship at the Harvard Sportsmens Club in 2009. John was a great friend of all the practical shooting sports and he will be greatly missed.

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Great photo
 
Maybe it's a bit premature but how about some IDPA/USPSA club this season designating one of their monthly matches as a John Kelly Memorial match. With maybe some proceeds going to GOAL.
 
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