Johnny Kelley Changed the Face of Our Region

I'm 55, and I grew up in New London, and I remember a time when, if you looked out your window and saw someone running, you'd wonder just what was going on.

Nobody ran. Well, maybe if they were in absolutely terrible shape, close to a heart attack kind of shape, maybe then you'd see them jogging, but that was rare, and it would make you shake your head and feel sorry for them.

But then, when I was about 12, and Amby Burfoot - under the tutelage of John Kelley - won the Boston marathon, people began to jog.

My dad quit smoking and began jogging. And soon enough, I went with him.

Soon after that, people began jogging (that was what we called it then, not "running,") and from time to time, in place after place, you'd see John Kelley.

I remember seeing him running on the Gold Star Bridge, and all over Mystic, too. I'd see him, and wave, and somehow, over the years, he came to be the face of "running" for me.

He was a friendly man who always had a smile, and seemed to be out in all weather, running.

My husband Peter worked with Kelley at Harry's Cabs in New London. Kelley had taught for 25 years, Peter remembers, and then decided he'd had enough.

Harry Knowles, now a Montville resident, owned the cab company at the time, and Ellie, Harry's wife, was Kelley's sister, and survives him.

Kelley always had a good word for Peter. When we decided that we were going to move to Idaho, Kelley pulled Peter aside and told him - earnestly, and with great energy - "Write a book!"

Ledyard Patch editor Bill Thorndike worked with Kelley at The Compass newspaper in Mystic, and, he writes, "visited with him many times over the last 30 years years as he walked his dogs past my house."

"Both of my big kids were runners," Thorndike writes, "and Johnny sold them shoes and talked to them about running. Seems like everybody knew him."

Look out your window at almost any time of the day nowadays, and you'll see someone running - for exercise, for weight loss or for pleasure.

John Kelley's joy in running, his glee, his success, his willingness to pass all of that along, the man's visibility and charm, his broad smile and vast enegy and his miles of character, these helped shape our region.

I didn't know Kelley well, but he was a touchstone for me, and for so many people who grew up here. The world is a little less bright this morning, without him in it.