Jim was born in the Bronx, New York, on July 25, 1939, the son of the late James A., Sr. and Ellen Byrne Kelly. He attended local schools graduating from Fordham Prep in 1957 and Fordham University in 1962. Jim also served in the Coast Guard Reserves.
On April 20, 1963, Jim married Phyllis Rosa at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in the Bronx, New York.
Jim had a forty plus year career as a CPA working in several different accounting firms before becoming a consultant with Control Associates in New Jersey, retiring in 2002. He and Phyllis then moved to Maine to be closer to family.
Following retirement, Jim loved playing golf and was a member of the Highland Green Golf Club, a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus, and a lifelong communicant of the Catholic Church. He enjoyed attending all of the sporting events and extracurricular activities his grandchildren participated in, and especially loved picking them up from school in his “bright yellow rain slicker”. Jim adored his children and grandchildren and was very proud of all their accomplishments. Jim is survived by his wife of fifty four years, Phyllis Kelly of Topsham; a daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Paul Cooleen of Falmouth; a son, James and his wife Maria Kelly of CA; five grandchildren, Jack Cooleen of Chicago, Katherine Cooleen of Falmouth, Brigid Cooleen of Falmouth, Lauren Kelly of CA, and Devin Kelly of CA.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10am, on Saturday, July 22, 2017, at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 132 McKeen Street, Brunswick, ME. Burial will be private. Arrangements are under the direction of the Conroy- Tully Walker Funeral Home, 172 State Street, Portland, Maine. To view Jim’s memorial page, or to share an online condolence, please visit www.ConroyTullyWalker.com.
Those who wish may make contributions in Jim’s memory to: Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, Main Office, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less