James Ralph Kelly, Jr

On December 12, 2002, James R. Kelly Jr., a retired Health Care Administrator with the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) died after a long battle with throat cancer at the Casey House Hospice in Rockville, Maryland. The Takoma Park resident was 68 years old. He was the son of the late James R. Kelly Sr. and Rose Mary Silk Kelly.

Mr. Kelly was born in Baltimore and grew up on the family farm near Bel Air. He graduated from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1956. After serving for two years in the United States Military Intelligence service in Heidelberg, Germany, he attended the University of Chicago and received his Masters Degree in Psychiatric Social Work in 1961.

His pioneering work in the development of the VA Extended Care Programs has shaped the modalities of long term care available to veterans across the country today.

Mr. Kelly’s service in VA included Chief of Community Care Programs (1975-1988) and Director of Extended Care Service (1988-1997) in the VA Central Office.

Mr. Kelly was the recipient of numerous awards including the John Heinz Award in 1993 for his work in Adult Day Health Care and upon retirement, in 1997, VA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Career Award. The National Association of Social Work named Mr. Kelly a Social Work Pioneer in 1997.

Mr. Kelly was fond of traveling and in 1998 completed the ancient pilgrimage to Santiago De Compostela, Spain, hiking over 800 miles to the cathedral, generally regarded as the final resting place of Saint James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles.

Mr. Kelly was also a gourmet cook and a knowledgeable horticulturist, nurturing many exotic trees and plants at his Takoma Park home.

He is survived by his sisters Catherine Ann Fitzpatrick of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Mary Elizabeth Caslin of Lutherville, Maryland; Rosemary Patricia Lyons of Bel Air, Maryland; and his brother Francis Patrick Kelly, also of Bel Air; nine nieces and nephews and five great nieces and nephews.

Those who desire may contribute to Montgomery Hospice Casey House, or the charity of the donor’s choice.