Joan M Kelly

Joan was born May 6, 1938, in Newark, New Jersey, to Joseph E. and Alice M. (Murphy) Murphy, and raised in the New England north shore town of Swampscott, Massachusetts, until 1953 when the family moved to West Orange, New Jersey. She graduated from West Orange High School in 1955 and from St. Peter’s School of Nursing in New Brunswick in 1958. After brief periods with the Veterans Administration Hospital in East Orange and New York Hospital in Manhattan, she moved to Washington, DC, and earned B.S.N. (1964) and M.S.N. (1973) degrees from The Catholic University of America.

Joan met her future husband, Gerald A. Kelly of Peoria, Illinois, in Washington and they were married in Orange, New Jersey, on February 4th, 1967. Jerry was employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington. The lived in the Tenleytown area of Washington D.C.

Daughters Megan Eileen and Caitlin Anne were born in Washington on January 5, 1968, and December 31, 1969, respectively. Both graduated from Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School and attended and graduated from Georgetown University – Megan, in 1990 and Caitlin in 1992. Megan later received a J.D. degree from the College of William & Mary School of Law and an M.P.A. from George Mason University. Caitlin went on to earn an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

In October 1989 Jerry was stricken with a punishing form of lung cancer and despite radiation and chemotherapy he died at home at age 52 on June 11, 1990. Over a period of many years -- both before and after Jerry's death -- Joan maintained a close and loving relationship with Jerry's siblings, who traveled each summer from Illinois to join in the annual Kelly family vacation at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. This tradition continues with Megan and Caitlin’s generation.

Joan served at The School of Nursing & Health Services at Georgetown University from 1972 to 1991 (?) where she was an Assistant Professor of Nursing. She primarily taught clinical, public and mental health classes, and frequently escorted students to local Washington clinics and hospitals for both hands-on training and public service. She was a caring and involved faculty advisor, often unable to accommodate the number of students requesting her assistance. Professor Myrtle Rose McCulloch, Ph.D., a colleague at Georgetown, wrote: “I remember Joan well. She was always smiling and pleasant to everyone. It was a pleasure being her colleague. May her family find solace knowing that she was well loved.”

Joan next served as assistant to the dean of the Georgetown School of Nursing & Health Services for one year, after which she left academia and returned to her clinical roots. She transferred to the Georgetown University Dental Clinic, where she served as an RN supervising dental school students.

The Acting Dean of the Georgetown Nursing and Heath Studies, upon Joan’s Death, sent the following message to current and former Georgetown colleagues:

“Joan was a proud nurse and a wonderful mentor to many during her years as a faculty member and an administrator at the then-Georgetown University School of Nursing. Colleagues remember Joan, who taught mental health nursing, as a beloved educator who displayed a deep commitment to this university’s tradition of academic excellence and values-based education. Longtime friend and colleague Allan Angerio, Ph.D., associate professor of human science emeritus and associate dean for education and undergraduate studies at the School of Nursing & Health Studies, recalls Joan’s ability to infuse her classroom with a ‘sense of fun’ that also defined her personality. He notes that students always went to her for advising and that ‘she could handle complex situations with kindness and bring out the best in students—and the rest of us.’ Her work involved curricular innovation to help introduce students to nursing early in their academic careers, as well as helping support the school’s first graduate program in nurse-midwifery, which began in the 1970s.”

Many members of the Georgetown University community attended Joan’s funeral 20+ years after her departure from the school.

Joan’s final full time position was with the National Association of Letter Carriers, where she served as a case manager for the employee health care plan. Colleagues recalled that she took it upon herself to develop a new case management system that both provided better health care for the employees and saved the organization money. The organization continues to use her system to this day.

In her retirement years Joan served as a volunteer with the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, in Washington. Through IVC, she volunteered at the McKenna Center for many years, assisting in meal preparation for local homeless men in downtown Washington, many of whom called her a friend.

Throughout her adult life in Washington, Joan regularly attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church. She developed deep friendships and considered many of the parishioners to be an extended family. She found great peace in this community and enjoyed attending their annual retreats in rural Maryland. She served as a Eucharistic Minister and was very active in the church.

Joan and Jerry spent most of their married years at their three-story colonial on 42nd Street in N.W. Washington, a short block from Wisconsin Avenue and the many shops and restaurants she was so fond of. Over the years, she and Jerry provided room, board and mentoring to several nieces, nephews and others who were in Washington for educational or career-related purposes.

Joan and Jerry greatly enjoyed several trips to Ireland, where they explored family roots. In Kilkenny they were delighted to discover a connection, about six generations back, between the Murphy and Kelly families. They enjoyed reaching out to and visiting with relatives from both sides of the family.

Notwithstanding the many happy memories Joan experienced in her home on 42nd Street, she decided to downsize to a townhouse a mere mile away in 2003, on Sutton Place. She frequently took the bus to downtown museums and met friends for lunch, enjoying a very active retirement.

In May of 2013 Joan was diagnosed with ovarian cancer requiring immediate surgery followed by chemotherapy. The scale of the surgery, chemo and their side effects left her without the physical strength to mount a full recovery. With the support of Megan, Caitlin, friends and family, she remained ambulatory for a period but was eventually overtaken and died peacefully, surrounded by both of her beloved daughters, at home on June 20, 2015.

Relatives and friends to call at JOSEPH GAWLER'S SONS, 5130 Wisconsin Ave. NW (corner of Harrison St.), Washington, DC on Wednesday, June 24 from 3 to 7 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 36th and O Streets NW, Washington, DC on Thursday, June 25 at 10:30 a.m.

Joan and Jerry are buried in adjacent graves at Glenwood Cemetery in NE Washington.