By Rita McInerney, Staff Writer

HARTWELL--On Tuesday morning, Feb. 7, a crowded church full of family, friends and fellow priests celebrated the homecoming of Father John Paul Kelley who died Feb. 2 after being hospitalized since mid-January.

In his homily during the Mass of Christian Burial celebrated by Archbishop John F. Donoghue, Msgr. Henry Gracz said that “many seasons ago, when John was in Denver, he saw a sign outside a Methodist church. It simply stated: ‘No one pulls a U-haul behind a hearse.’”

“We have no worry about a trailer of possessions behind John’s hearse. In our day when we gather and hold on to so much, what a fine sign of the Gospel we have in our brother, who regularly uncluttered his life to set out the values of the Gospel, Church, and table of the Eucharist which he loved so very deeply.”

The funeral Mass was the final rite for a priest whose spiritual life was rich in love of God and his brothers and sisters. Testimony to the value many placed on their friendship and association with him was plain to see in the members who came, despite the bad weather, to the liturgies and wake service at Sacred Heart Church in Hartwell where he had been pastor since June, 1990.

Msgr. Peter Dora, dean of the Northeast Deanery, received the body of Father Kelley at the church on Monday morning, Feb. 6, and celebrated the Eucharistic liturgy. That evening a wake and remembering service took place in the church with Sister Maureen Kelley, OP, one of Father Kelley’s seven sisters, giving a reflection on him. Remarks from parishioners and others whose lives the pastor had nourished over the years followed.

The funeral Mass was delayed about one hour Tuesday morning with many people enroute stalled by a tractor trailer accident on Interstate 85. Drivers with car phones called the parish for back road directions. Archbishop Donoghue made it after calling in for such information.

“Those of us who know Father John,” Msgr. Gracz said before beginning his homily, “know how he will be laughing with the saints because a major traffic tie-up on Interstate 85 delayed his funeral celebration.”

Msgr. Gracz, who with Father Kelley, was part of a group of priests who met monthly for over 14 years, went on to say, “I cannot think of John without knowing that his Gospel spirit, mixed with that Kelley spunk, has left everyone here with a memory that is almost at once bold and utterly honest, yet filled with love and wisdom.”

Father Kelley, who was ordained a priest at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers on June 23, 1957, was labeled a “bold-faced man of truth” by the homilist.

“He was nurtured in the Cistercian community in Conyers and brought us great stories of the community life he shared so long. He kept that rich sense of prayer nurtured there ... But the bold truth that John echoed with his life was no less than the truth of today’s holy word...we are all friends of the Jesus our Christ who called us to a fruitful life of service and love.”

Msgr. Gracz both comforted and challenged the mourners: “You know that we will still hear John preaching whenever we hear the sacred Scripture preached.”

For those handicapped or challenged, “We, like John, have to see their wonderful gifts that teach us to stand in wonder and awe before the simplest moments of life.”

For those in pain, or mourning, “let us hear the words that John heard, the tender voice of Jesus saying to each heart, ‘You are mine and mine I keep.’”

Speaking for the priests and people of the archdiocese, Archbishop Donoghue expressed sorrow at Father Kelley’s death at 72 from a cerebral hemorrhage.

“Though we know there is rejoicing among the angels and saints, we will are left to feel the very real absence of Father Kelley’s life from among us,” the archbishop said.

His “formidable witness” was felt in the Church of North Georgia “after God called on his spiritual expertise and moved him to a broader arena of church life as a devoted priest and pastor, a wise teacher and a steadfast friend.”

The communion hymn, “Where Is The Lord?,” was composed by parishioners John Stelter and Jerry Korte. Mr. Korte is a candidate for the permanent diaconate from the parish and will be ordained June 10.

Mary Korte, who worked as pastoral coordinator and earlier as church secretary, said the men were inspired by the pastor’s teachings to write the hymn. He had told his congregation, from the pulpit, “This is the song I want to be sung when they’re carrying me out of here.”

Mrs. Korte said Father Kelley was “an inspiration to the entire community (of Hartwell).” Ten members of an ecumenical group of clergy attended the funeral Mass, wearing their ministerial robes and sitting in a section reserved for them.

With Father Kelley the parish “blossomed into a loving, welcoming community,” Mrs. Korte said. And over a period of time “the children began listening so intently to his homilies. The children could tell us what he said. His wisdom was pure and simple, it was the wisdom of the Gospel, of charity and forgiveness.”

She went on to say that he was “such a human man. He spoke the truth in all circumstances. Sometimes that frightened people. Most of all it called us to growth.”

In her reflection at the wake service, Sister Maureen said she didn’t remember her brother being steeped in the Scriptures as a youngster, but did remember him being open to the word of God taught by their parents and the church.

“It seems to me that this very love of life and spirit of joy carried him through most situations. It appeared to me he kept his eyes on the good things in life and only stumbled into the bad things.”

When the family gathered in later years, her brother enjoyed “retelling the stories of life in order to recapture the joy and fun of life. When Sister Elizabeth, Bev, and I spent Christmas with him he was still telling stories that entertained us.”

Sister Maureen said he was not overwhelmed at the hard times of life but “stayed with the struggle and after much pain and prayer he turned to Scripture. It was Scripture that brought him back to the belief in the joy and goodness of life. When he had personally heard Jesus tell him, ‘You are mine and mine I keep,’ he earnestly began his pursuit of Jesus. From then on most of his energies were given to learning about Jesus and striving to imitate Jesus’ life, praying, teaching and loving.”

Her brother felt “anointed and appointed” to bring the good news of the Spirit to those with whom he lived and worked, especially the poor. He gave what he had to the poor while preaching God’s love for them, she said.

“It was touching for me to learn from Mary Korte,” the Dominican sister continued, “that just before John was taken ill he was talking to a social worker requesting help for a family who had been burned out. He agreed to help but got sick before he could write the check. The rescue squad was kept waiting while Father John, lying on his bed with Mary guiding his hand, signed two checks to help the family in need. It was his last act as pastor and as a believer of the Gospel message.”

After Sister Maureen ended her talk, adults, teens and children shared their feelings. Among those sharing, a widow spoke of the comfort he had given her dying husband, a teenager, in tears, told of the youth group Father Kelley started at Sacred Heart, a little boy reminded them of how the pastor had loved the children.

Several days after the funeral Toni Miralles, consultant for people with disabilities at St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Sandy Springs, spoke of her years of friendship and work with Father Kelley.

It started when he was assigned as parochial vicar at St. Jude in June 1977. As the new priest in the parish “he was sent down to work with me. He got involved with the disabled and, lo, and behold, he stayed,” she said.

In 1981, Father Kelley was named to head the ministry to the disabled in the archdiocese. He continued in this post until he was named pastor in 1990. Mrs. Miralles continued to work closely with him.

“He taught me so much about people with disabilities. I had to teach him the terminology, but he knew them, he loved them. He called them forth and challenged them. He insisted they get out and use their gifts.”

She recalled how, at one confirmation years ago, a young man with disabilities was on the altar as an acolyte and “between the archbishop and the master of ceremonies, Stuart got pushed aside. Father Kelly saw this and moved him forward again.”

“He was constantly looking for ways to move people with disabilities into all forms of ministry within the church,” she said. “I can’t stress how much he taught me. He was a friend of the families, he counseled them.”

When he was made pastor of St. Anna’s in Monroe in 1983, he put in a ramp to the church, she recalled. When parishioners told him there were no members who were disabled, he said, ‘They’ll come. And they did.”

Msgr. Gracz who was pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Decatur when Father Kelley was named parochial vicar there in 1975, said the funeral “was such an experience of people who not only really loved him but people who had been touched by him.”

Father Kelley was born in Omaha, Neb., son of the late Paul Leo and Ann Josephine Maher Kelley. Two brothers, Thomas P. Kelley and Father Paul Kelley, OSB, predeceased him.

Father Kelley received the Cistercian habit on Oct. 16, 1949 at the Monastery of the Holy Ghost, Conyers. He made his simple profession Oct. 28, 1951 and took his solemn vows in 1954. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Francis Hyland of Atlanta, on June 23, 1957. Following the Second Vatican Council he left the monastic cloister in 1964. From 1965 until 1974 he served parishes in the Archdiocese of Denver.

He came to Atlanta in 1974 and was incardinated as a priest of the archdiocese Dec. 14, 1978. After serving at Sts. Peter and Paul and St. Jude, he was assigned to Immaculate Heart of Mary, Atlanta, from 1981 until 1983. From there he was named pastor in Monroe. His assignment to Hartwell followed.

In addition to Sister Maureen, Father Kelley is survived by a brother, Willliam Kelley of Los Angeles, and six sisters, Kathryn Foley of Englewood, Colo.; Patricia Scanlan, Claire LaHood and Norita Salerno, all of Omaha; Geraldine Dunne of Sherrill’s Ford, N.C., and Margaret Wiltgen of Sioux City, Iowa. There are numerous nieces and nephews.

His cremated remains were interred in Omaha.

The parish is accepting donations in Father Kelley’s memory for Children’s Morning, Inc., an ecumenical program for children held at Sacred Heart Parish.

The church address is 1009 Benson St., Hartwell, GA 30643.