EARL V. KELLY

RUDOLPH, KELLY, DURAN, KUNDERT, SMELTZER, SCHULZ, LEVEILLE

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 7/15/2003 at 09:41:57

Earl V. Kelly

Telegraph Herald - Sunday, June 8, 2003

Earl V. Kelly, 92, of Bethany Home, formerly of 1661 Lawndale St., died at 10:20 p.m. Friday, June 6, 2003, at Bethany Home.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Egelhof, Siegert & Casper Westview Funeral Home, 2659 Kennedy Road, where friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday. Burial will be in Linwood Cemetery, where military rites will be accorded by the American Legion, Dubuque Post 6.

He was born on July 19, 1910, in Dubuque, son of Mr. and Mrs. James (Freda Rudolph) Kelly. He married Gloria Duran, of Colorosa, N.M., in 1934; she died in 1945. He then married Margaret Kundert in 1946; she preceded him in death in February 1991.

Earl joined the Navy in 1927, and attained the rank of Chief Gunner's Mate. On the date of the Pearl Harbor attack, he was the recruiting officer in Dubuque. He requested sea duty and following the death of his mother in July 1942, he returned to Norfolk, Va., for assignment aboard ship. At that time, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Navy. Most of his career in the Navy was spent aboard destroyers. During his career, he earned the following medals: The Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal with four stars, World War II Victory Medal, American Area, Asiatic-Pacific, American Theater, China Service, European Theater Medal with seven stars, Commendation Ribbon, Navy Occupation, 2nd Nicaraguan Campaign.

Following World War II, Mr. Kelly was an instructor at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. After 23 years of active duty, he transferred to the Fleet Reserve, returned to Dubuque, and worked for the Dubuque Community School District and was traffic manager at J.C. Penney Co., Roshek Brothers Co., and its successors, Aldens and Armstrongs.

He was a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Dubuque. He was a 52-year member of Mosaic Lodge No. 125 A.F. & A.M. of the Masonic Temple. He held dual membership in Isabel Chapter of Eastern Star, Elizabeth, Ill., and Julien Chapter No. 125 Eastern Star of Dubuque. Earl was a member and past commander of the American Legion, Dubuque Post 6, a member of Voiture 632 of the Forty and Eight Society, where he was the local Chef de Gare and also the Grand Chef de Gare of the State of Iowa. Other memberships included the Fleet Reserve Association, Military Officers Association of America and the Dubuque Evening Lions Club.

He and Margaret enjoyed traveling and spending their retirement years at their summer cottage in Guttenberg, Iowa.

Surviving are a sister-in-law, Charlotte (Mrs. Francis) Kelly, of Dubuque; three nieces, Barbara (Jack) Smeltzer and Maureen Schulz, both of Dubuque, and Linda LeVeille, of Whitefish Bay, Wis.; and a nephew, Larry (Lavonne) Kelly, of Oconomowoc, Wis.

He also was preceded in death by his parents; an infant sister, Freda; a brother, James; a sister, Myrtle LeVeille; and a brother, Major General Francis J. Kelly.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be given to Bethany Home in commemoration of the excellent care accorded Earl during his three year residency there.