PETER KELLY

MIDDLEBURY — Peter Kelly, of Moorestown, N.J., passed away on July 23, 2023 in Middlebury, Vermont, due to complications from a stroke. He and his wife, Louise Marshall Kelly, were spending the summer on Lake Dunmore, where Louise has spent summers since 1946. Peter was born in Loudonville, N.Y., and grew up in nearby Kinderhook. He was the oldest of James Raymond Kelly and Ann Patricia (Lansing) Kelly’s nine children.

He attended Martin Van Buren School, Vincentian Institute and Georgetown University. His father owned several businesses in Albany, N.Y., where Peter worked as a boy, including Dippers Food Corporation and AB Hustead Company. After college, Peter worked for his father managing Stittig’s Confectionary. Later, he worked as a manager for the Marriott Corporation.

In 1968, he moved to California where he married Cynthia Ann Barton, and started working for Acacia Mutual Insurance Company. Several years later, he started his own financial planning firm, Financial Directions. His firm included a CPA, an estate planning attorney, a stockbroker, an insurance agent, and a real estate broker.

Peter was active in many professional associations including serving as President of the Estate Planning Council, the San Francisco Financial Planners Association, the International Association of Financial Planner’s Northern California Council of Chapter Presidents, and several others.

Eventually his firm had offices in Oakland and San Francisco. Both locations were severely damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, yet he continued to run his business until 1999 when he moved back to the Kinderhook, N.Y., area, partially retired, and did occasional business consulting.

Peter started beagling at the age of 14, and was a “whipper-in” for the Old Chatham Hunt Club in Old Chatham, N.Y., for many years and maintained a lifelong relationship with the club.

He believed in giving back to the community, including efforts to support marginalized and disadvantaged people. Among his philanthropic endeavors, Peter was President of the Board of Catholic Charities Columbia-Greene serving and advocating for persons in need. He was an annual contributor to many national and international charitable organizations.

He is survived by his wife, Louise Marshall Kelly. He is also survived by his daughter, Elaine Connolly, her husband, Patrick Connolly, and their sons, Colm, and Cahal; his son, Sean Kelly; six brothers and sisters: Thomas, Brian, Mary Ann, Margaret, James, and Mark; stepchildren Pete Marshall and Jenna Korff; step-grandchildren Zoe Korff, Eliza Korff and Lucas Marshall; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. His parents as well as his brothers Joseph and Lawrence predeceased him.

His memorial service will be held at Unitarian Universalist Church, 401 Kings Highway North, Cherry Hill, N.J., on Sept. 9, 2023, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The American Stroke Association, P.O. Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284 or The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741. ◊