In Loving Memory of
Russell John Kelly
September 17, 1948 – December 28, 2013
| Obituary |
Russell John Kelly, 65, of Brooklyn, New York, passed away on December 28, 2013, following a cardiac arrest and subsequent complications, at the Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. His best friend, Mary Purpari, was at his side at the time of death. He was born on September 17, 1948 to Jack Russell Kelly and Mary Jane (Newman) Kelly, in Orlando, Florida, although the family moved two months later to Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, with a brief stop-over in the US Virgin Islands. He resided in Brooklyn, New York for the last five years preceding his death. He was a tax accountant, but one of his greatest joys in life was sharing his vast knowledge on many subjects with his friends and acquaintances, and counseling and comforting those in need. His love and knowledge of all music types, from reggae to classical, from opera to jazz, and everything in between, was a joy to all of his many friends around the world, as was his love of sports.
Russ is survived by his son, Kevin Kelly and grandson, Joey Kelly; his sisters, Patricia Grace Kelly, Deirdre Kelly Rose and Vicki Kelly Forseth; his wife Silvia Santos Kelly; and his step-son, Jose’ Hernandez. His loss is mourned by hundreds of friends around the world.
He was preceded in death by his beloved parents, Jack Russell and Mary Jane Kelly, as well as his much-loved step-mother, Paulette San Marchi Kelly.
A memorial service will be held in his honor on January 25, 2014at 11:30 a.m.
Location:
St. Catherine of Siena Parish Church
339 Pompton Ave.
Cedar Grove, NJ.
Russ was affectionately known by many names, such as Cute Guy, Flaquito, Compadre, the Music Man, Bro, Russ, E-lugs, Jovencito, etc. But the name he will be fondly remembered by, which illustrated his true nature, is the ROCK. We miss you, Rock!
Please, let us know you dropped by; just leave your name in the comment box. Thank You.
Many say that internet friends cannot possibly be a real friend. Perhaps I have no idea what a real friend is then because I firmly committed myself to being a friend to Russ. He was a great teacher, a heart mender, a collaborator, top notch musician, a variable jack of all trades and finally, my friend. If you knew him, you were blessed. Now that he's moved forward into the next life, let us all hope that we can allow what he shared to live vicariously through each one who were blessed to have him in our quiver of friends. - Michelle
ReplyDeleteThank you for your beautiful words.
DeleteThank you for writing such a lovely obituary. It brought me to tears! Russ and I were good friends, despite a couple of disagreements, (a sign of true friendship), and I'll never forget him! R.I.P. ♥
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debbie. He gladly counted you as a friend.
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DeleteVery well written, Mary. he surely will be missed by hundreds around the world. Again, I'm sorry for your loss. LARRY.
DeleteThank you, Larry.
DeleteRuss is and will always be missed by many people. I know I'm blessed to have met him online. He showed me that there ARE decent men out there -- ones that actually care and ones that have class. I'll always remember you, Russ -- RIP. ❤
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lizzie. he was indeed a caring and kind man.
DeleteMiss you, Russ...
ReplyDeleteYou have been one of the best I met in my while life and you changed my life like a father.
thank you, Omid. He loved you like a son and had hoped that in time, he would have the privilege of meeting you face to face.
DeleteOur Rock is dearly missed by the "online-world". I think of him with admiration. I feel with all who were close to him,,,,,
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karin. He truly valued your friendship.
DeleteThank for the music Russ, you will be miss
ReplyDeleteRIP
Thank you Sue. He enjoyed sharing his music and chatting with you.
DeleteOne of the good ones.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Chris. He was indeed one of the good ones. He enjoyed cooking for you.
DeleteVery Beautiful!... Russ will be very missed, yet never forgotten. He always knew the correct words to make a person feel excepted and cared about. I love when he would share a song.... a song with words that always fight the situation or to bring a smile to your lips.. . a man, that I knew I could trust his advice, being personal, financial or just good music suggestions... Thank you Russ, for the friendship!.. XOXO... May God Bless you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Portia. And thank you for being his friend.
DeleteAlthough i never had the pleasure of meeting Russ in person,i do feel that i knew him personally.As our friend he had the wonderful quality of "giving of himself" to each one of us individually that made you want to return that openess..Our rock was truly one of a kind and i am honoured to have had the pleasure of having him in my life.
ReplyDeleteSleep well Mo Chara..we will always carry you in our heart <3
Shelly.
Thank you, Shelly. He always wanted to go to Ireland and felt a special tug towards his over friends over there on the other side of the pond.
DeleteSo sorry.... as they say, gone, but not forgotten my friend.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteIf I may ........♥
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/WZXM2eq46_s
Thank you, Debbie. I tried to post something when I posted the obituary, but it was a problem. I would retry, but I'm afraid of losing all the comments.
ReplyDeleteI miss you dearly Russ. I cant believe that you are gone. I keep looking on my FB messenger to see if you are signed on and i get disappointed when I am reminded that you are no longer around. I greatly appreciated the conversations we had in which you gave great advice and words of wisdom. I wish you would have seen Devonn before you passed. You always told me that you thought he was a good looking child. LOL. I believe that you are in a better place. Love you Russ. Love Andrea.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea. He was always glad to be of assistance with you.
DeleteI miss Russ very much. Each day I look for his posts and feel sad when I realize they won't be coming anymore. I hope he his enjoying his time wherever he may be. ♥
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paul. I'm sure he will be.
DeleteRuss was truly the Rock! He was a champion of his friends, supporter of common sense (which isn't so common!!). I loved his support and looked forward to seeing him online. He was the king of little known facts as well as the greater knowledge of the world that put me to shame! I wish I had been able to meet him in person, just to give him a hug. I will miss him more than I can say! Love you Russ, Boxermom (Lynn)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Boxermom.
DeleteYou shall forever live in our hearts my dear friend, your light and love guiding us. RIP till we join again ...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cemil
DeleteIt is still difficult for me to believe that when I login to FB I won't see his name on my buddy list! It had become such a fixed thing, that when I didn't see him on, it seemed that I was just marking time till he came on.
ReplyDeleteHe was always there to exchange opinions, to give advice, to "listen" to my endless gripes about everything under the sun. At least with me, he never seemed cross, and it was hard to believe that there was a person like that.
We agreed on just about everything except religion, but that didn't stop us from discussing about all else. We were looking forward to meeting, because we were thinking about starting off on a project together, which would have allowed us to meet in person.
I miss him more than I thought would be possible for someone you know only online. And this is certainly due to the fact that he was a great man, a great person.
Requiem, my dear friend. I miss you.
Bianca
Thank you, Bianca. It's odd to think that we had the same disagreement as you did...
DeleteThe Rock was well known and respected around here. He lent a little stability in a rapidly changing world, His knowledge of many subjects and his understanding of people set him apart. Music, music, music. He was as likely to make a comment on a county,pop,or rock song as he was to play classic music, ballads or break loose on you with a hot little jazz number. He helped, guided and supported people of all types here. In our little corner of the cyber universe he was THE ROCK and always will be we shall not forget Russ Kelly. To his family and personal friends I extend my deepest sympathies. I envy you all. you had the pleasure of having him in your daily lives . I only wish I had known him as you do. Cherish your memories. We shall cherish the Rock in our hearts forever
ReplyDeleteJoseph Foster (Texan)
Russ, I feel guilty now, I should have spent more time with you through internet before you decided to leave. Now I miss your wisdom, your jokes, your gentle persona and everything you offered us as friend. I will miss you buddy till we meet someday, somewhere, somehow again.
ReplyDelete- ---Jit
Thank you, Jit. I'm sure the two of you will meet again, in person, this time.
DeleteOn the surface, Russ and I were often at odds, yet we shared a mutual fondness and respect not always apparent ... our friendship went all the way back to the early days of the original QnA group.
ReplyDeleteI miss you Russ.-- Lee
Thank you, Lee.
DeleteI came back to find a friend gone, but never forgotten. You are and always will be my friend Russ. --- Judi Mac
ReplyDeleteThank you, Judi
Deletehttp://www.buzzle.com/img/articleImages/312192-11228-44.jpg
ReplyDeleteSimply said.....I miss you, Russ.
Thank you Gina.
DeleteBeautifully done Mary. Russ I miss you very much. I will miss our romps into Manhattan and your vast knowledge on so many things. I will miss your wise guy comments on my posts and I will miss your help on so many things I have questions about. Most of all, I will miss talks on the phone when I needed a friend.
ReplyDeleteRest in Peace my dear friend.
Love,
Jody
Thank you, Jody.
Deletei will truly miss you Amigo........rest in paradise
ReplyDeleteThank you, Teresa.
DeleteRuss and I considered ourselves siblings and he is listed as my brother on my facebook page.... I will miss him so much and we have all lost a treasure.... May you find ways to let us know your spirit is still with us Brother Russ...
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mindy. Indeed we have...
DeleteIt seems my post didn't come out.
ReplyDeleteI just want Russ to know that I miss him terribly. I know you are looking over us up there and that you are smiling to all our comments. I loved you. Descansa en paz, compadrito.
Thank you, Martha. Muchas gracias.
DeleteI'm very sorry that Russ has passed away and Mary no-longer enjoys his great attributes. I never know what to say regarding someones death and yesterday everything I wrote on this obituary page, vanished when I hit the Preview button. Comments today are mostly going in different directions and maybe that is better. Russ and I are only two months apart in age and we shared a liking for much of the same music and other stuff. I have known him since Q&A days and have developed a healthy respect for his intelligence that he freely shared with his on-line friends. I almost met Russ in NYC last year as my wife and I were in the vicinity. I called Russ and said we wanted to see the American Museum of Natural History and Central Park. He told me I would never find parking... we did white-knuckle it through the Lincoln Tunnel and our timing was just right on the parking - regret not meeting Mary, Jody, Vicki and Russ :(
ReplyDeleteI always will miss his presents on-line
Postscript: I haven't gone by my name much on past forum activity and am probably better known as Geohuntr or as Russ and some others called me Geo
DeleteIncluding me. Thank you, Geo. He was so sorry not to have been able to meet up with you that day.
DeleteThis one is for you Russ
ReplyDelete"Joy sings through nature’s rhythm, uplifting the soul’s harmony and sweetness."
Thank you for being a true friend, a beautiful soul and wonderful spirit :):):)
Love always, dear friend
Thank you, Cat. he so appreciated your friendship.
DeleteThank you dearest, so do I :):):)
DeleteBeautifully written, Mary!.... I was very proud to call Russ my friend and was honored when he would call me his friend. I miss him every single day. He truly was the our Rock! RIP my dear friend! <3 ~Joy Reardon
ReplyDeleteThank you, Joy.
DeleteWhile you mourn the loss of you friend, lover, husband, father, grandfather and son of Jack Russell and Mary Jane Kelly, as well as his much-loved step-mother, Paulette San Marchi Kelly... may you rest assured he will be warmly received on the other side!!! While you call his stop over to the Virgin Islands brief...his impact was not!!!! Special condolences go out to those that I know, Deirdre Kelly Rose and Vicki Kelly Forseth....As well as the entire family and all the friends he has made in his travels on this planet!!! May he RIP <3 Paige
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paige. he made a tremendous impact wherever he went. It was brief compared to Brooklyn, but he still valued the friendships he made while there.
ReplyDeleteI only knew Russ a short time and only on Facebook. But we shared a similar world view, political ideas and most of all a love of music! Having lived in NY city in my college days, I loved Broadway musicals, and he knew them all too! It was always fun to have those wonderful conversations! :) I will miss them. My deep condolences to you, all his family and those who were close to him. May he rest in peace and of lovely music! ~ Annette Raymon Smith
ReplyDeleteThank you, Annette. I'm sorry this is so late--I don't know how I missed it. He was indeed a wonderful man, and the breadth of his knowledge was incredible, not to forget his love of music. I'm sure there is a Heavenly Orchestra playing what the two of us classify as perhaps the best music ever written--Air on a G-string by Bach. Or singing duets with his dad.
Deletedon't see my post... I had to go"Anonymous". oh well, i posted guite awhile back. fabulously written for sure, Mary. xoxo Lisa
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa.
DeleteHi Mary, I'm just now finding this blogpost. He was so many things, intelligent, fun, witty, knowledgeable. I loved the way he used to show up under comments and post a youtube link. Sometimes nothing more. I miss that. His absence on facebook grows larger and larger as time goes on. The opposite of what is typical.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you lost your dear buddy. <3
Thank you, Willow. He was so good about finding just the right piece of music for very occasion. I think those are exactly the reasons I fell in love with him.
DeleteI babysat for Russell when he was a baby in Woodside, queens. It was when his Dad, Jack Russell Was a singer on Your Show of Shows w/ Sid ceasar and Imogene Coca, around 1951 and his sister Patty Grace. Loved that family
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for getting in touch and letting me know about this. I never had the privilege of meeting either of his parents--his mother died shortly after I was born, but from all accounts, they were indeed wonderful people, as was Russ until the very end. I have spoken with his sister, and she, too, impressed me. Thank you, again, for dropping by.
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