Thomas F. Kelly, Sr. of Fishkill passed away peacefully at the Castle Point VA Medical Center, surrounded by his loving family, after courageously battling a long illness. The journey for Tom began on September 22, 1920 in Brooklyn and literally took him all over the world. Affectionately referred to as “Buddy” by friends and family alike, because of his engaging personality, he embraced all he met.
Growing up during the Depression, he first worked for the WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), learning several trades along the way. At the start of World War II, he worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard building ships for the war effort. He then enlisted in the Army serving in Company C, 195th Infantry. His tour of duty took him to Tunisia and most notably Brazil, tracking German soldiers trying to establish a stranglehold in South America.
After being honorably discharged at the end of the war, he was an airplane mechanic in Iceland. His public service continued as a New York City policeman from which he retired after seven years as a detective after being injured. He spent the remainder of his career with IBM and Combustion Engineering.
Upon his retirement, he tended to his favorite pastimes of golf, public service, and traveling. Tom served on the Town of Fishkill Zoning Board, is a former president of the DAV, and was in the American Legion. He traveled for long periods to England, Switzerland, Costa Rica, South Africa, Venezuela, and Mexico. He returned to Brazil to travel through the Amazon basin.
Tom is survived by his wife of sixty years, Joan (Swenson); his daughter, Laura, and husband, Sean Higgins, son Thomas III and wife, Susan, son Michael and wife, Janet, and daughter, Julie and her companion, Lou Amoroso; eight grandchildren, Jonathan, Jocelyn, Thomas IV, Shannon, Brianna, Keenan, and McCaila, and his two sisters, Mary Snelling and Madeline Tierney.
Visitation will be held on Tuesday, March 31, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Halvey Funeral Home, Inc., 24 Willow Street, Beacon. Handicap access to the funeral home is via Oak Street.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1, at St. John the Evangelist Church, 35 Willow Street, Beacon. Interment will follow in St. Joachim’s Cemetery, Washington Avenue, Beacon.
The family wishes to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the nurses, aides, and maintenance engineers of the VA Veterans Village, who not only demonstrated their excellence, but their compassion to Tom.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Miles of Hope, PO Box 405, Lagrangeville, New York 12540 in Tom’s memory.
To send the family a personal condolence or for directions to the funeral home, please visit our website at www.halveyfh.com.
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