Br. Kilian Amedy Kelly

Charles Kelly was Born on November 5, 1936, the son of Evelyn (Fletcher) and Joseph Kelly. He attended St. George High School in Evanston and entered the Juniorate program in 1951 and the Novitiate in 1955. Upon profession of his first vows, he began his Scholasticate studies at St. Mary’s College in Winona where he graduated in 1959 and was assigned to Catholic High School in Vincennes, Indiana. In 1961 Charles transferred to Bishop Noll High School in Hammond, Indiana. In 1963 he was granted a year of studies at St. Louis University. From 1964 to 1973 he taught at Colegio De La Salle School in Huehuetenango, Guatemala and Liceo La Salle in Chiquimula, Guatemala. In 1973 he went to C.I.L, and international studies program in Rome, Italy. He returned to Guatemala and Collegio DLS for one more year and returned to the United States and De La Salle Institute in Chicago, Illinois from 1975 to 1979. The following year he was assigned to La Salle Manor Retreat Center where he served as a counselor for the next nine years ultimately becoming the Director of the Center. In 1988 Charles was assigned to Driscoll High School but in 1991 he returned to retreat work at Dunrovin Retreat Center at Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. In 1998 he made the 100 Day retreat at Sangre and in 1999 he was assigned to San Miguel School in Chicago. A year later he was assigned to Driscoll High School in Chicago and in 2003 he worked at Christian Brothers Center in Romeoville, Illinois. Throughout the years Charles remained very active. He enjoyed tennis and coached it at De La Salle in Chicago. While at Dunrovin he enjoyed skiing and was a ski instructor at Trollhaugen Ski Resort in Wisconsin. He also liked racquetball, camping, playing cards, swimming, and biking. Just two days before he died, he took a bike ride to Chicago’s lakefront and went for a dip in Lake Michigan. Always charitable, he made several trips over the years to Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada where he would help his brother John’s family while John struggled with multiple sclerosis. For many years he was a volunteer docent once a week in the Egypt section of Chicago’s Field Museum. He served for many years on the FSC Foundation where he would help direct grants that brightened the lives of young people worldwide. Charles retired in 2002 and lived in the De La Salle Community in Chicago. He died suddenly of a heart attack at age 81 and a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on August 8th at Holy Trinity Church in Westmont, Illinois. He was buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Romeoville, Illinois, having been a De La Salle Christian Brother for sixty-three years.