James Peter Kelly

Beloved husband for 55 years of Patricia “Patsy” (nee Bergin), devoted father of Maureen Nephew and husband Daniel, Letitia Kingston and husband Mark, Bonnie Bouwman and husband Micheal, and James Patrick “JP” and wife Alicia. Loving grandfather to Meghan, Kailyn, Peter, Brian, Cameron James “CJ”, Elizabeth “Libbie”, Julia, Kathryn “Kate”, Patrick, and Jessica and great grandfather to Jackson and Carter.

Known as Peter or Jim, he was lovingly called “D” by his children and grandchildren and “Joe” by his wife. Born in Englewood, NJ he was a graduate of Bogota HS. He served as a Private First Class in the Army Corps Reserves before graduating with his BS in Engineering from the University of Florida. He went on to receive his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University while working for Bell Laboratories. In 1969, he was hired at Exxon as a Mechanical Engineer and retired in 2001 as ECC BR Site Services Manager. In his 30+ years working at New Jersey, Milford Haven, and Baton Rouge sites, he never missed a day of work and his friends from Exxon still tell stories about his annual Crawfish Boils.

He approached his many and varied hobbies with same methodical discipline and determination he approached his work – he had a spreadsheet for everything. In the mid-seventies, he started jogging to ‘get in shape’ and by the late 80’s had completed several marathons and was consistently a top 3 finisher in is age bracket on the USTS triathlon circuit. Unlike his father, he was not a gifted musician but, he was a diligent student and learned to play the bagpipes, eventually joining and performing with the BR Caledonian Pipes & Drums. An avid golfer, he could recount exact scores and shots from the Masters and The Opens he attended. He enjoyed evenings on the dock of his Port Fourchon fishing camp ‘drowning worms’ and weekends deer hunting with his son. He could build or fix anything and tell you the precise location of any tool in his chock full garage. He was a lifelong UF Gators fan, making exception to root for his children’s or grandchildren’s alma maters (Miami, Clemson, LSU) only if they were not pitted against the Gators.

His work and interests took him all over the world, but he was happiest at home spending time with family especially Christmas’ and Kelly vacations when the whole family was together. The only thing that gave him more pride & joy than his own children were his ten grandchildren. In retirement, time dedicated to his own hobbies was replaced with time spent with his grandchildren, attending and encouraging their many activities. His life was an example of dedication to family and always doing your best. He gifted his family with cherished traditions that embodied his values of faith and family like the Christmas Eve Rosary and the Kelly Newsletter Letter.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St., Baton Rouge, on Sunday, August 20th at from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Memorial Mass at St Jude the Apostle Catholic Church, 9150 Highland Rd, Baton Rouge, on Monday. August 21st at 11:00a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

To view and sign the online guestbook, please visit www.rabenhorst.com