Donald Robert Kelley of Sag Harbor Dies September 14

Donald Robert Kelley of Sag Harbor died on September 14. He was 94.

He was known to friends and associates as either “Don,” “Bob,” or his longtime nickname, “Freddie,” and to family as Dad, Grandpa and Great-Grandpa.

He raised four children, all of whom survive him — Kate Kelley-Bittel of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and Joseph Kelley, Michael Kelley and Patricia Brophy, all of Sag Harbor — and had 12 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

A vibrant sense of humor was his calling card throughout life, and he regularly replenished his supply of jokes over the years, sharing them with his children and grandchildren, close friends, and even people he was meeting for the first time, his family said. (He had a reputation for repeating his favorites).

He was also proud of his more than 20 year career in the U.S. Navy, where he served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp as a chief petty officer, before being honorably discharged on February 10, 1967. During his time in the Navy, he was on active duty at the end of World War II, and during both the Korean and Vietnam wars, making him a veteran of three wars. Kelley always looked forward to putting on his white Navy uniform and being part of the annual Memorial Day Parade in Sag Harbor, marching alongside fellow veterans from the town’s American Legion Post, and he spoke fondly of the time spent traveling the world on the Wasp, visiting far flung locations like Paris, France and the Horn of Africa, among others.

He was born on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, 1928, in Syracuse, to parents Charles Kelley and Irene Holtz, but he was given up for adoption to a Mrs. Waliser, who raised him from the time he was 3 years old. At the age of 18, he enlisted in the Navy, and shortly after met his future wife, Eileen McGovern, at a roller skating rink in Brooklyn. As the story goes, he fell flat on his face trying to keep up with her as she skated around expertly in a smart green roller skating skirt and shirt. He must have done something right though — within months, they were married.

Their first child, Kate, was born in 1948, followed by their first son, Robert Donald, who died when he was just 3 days old. They then had Joseph, Michael and Patricia over the next seven years, raising them first in their home on Lorimer Street in Brooklyn and later in a house on Morrison Street in Babylon.

He stayed busy during those days after he started a family. In addition to his service in the Navy, he also had a long career in the banking business. After many years, he worked at the Bowery Savings Bank as a branch manager, where he met former New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, who served on the board and was a longtime spokesman for the bank.

He also worked at a start-up bank, First Women’s Bank, in New York City, which was founded in 1975, and had the distinction of being the first male manager at that bank.

He earned his associate’s degree in business administration from SUNY Farmingdale in 1975, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1985 from Adelphi University, attending night school to finish his degree.

That same year, the family relocated from their home on Araca Road in Babylon, steps from the Great South Bay, to Sag Harbor. They moved into a home that was custom built by their sons, Joseph and Michael, home builders who worked together at the time. The home, situated on a large piece of property on Orchard Avenue, near the entrance of the Northampton Shores neighborhood in Noyac, bordering the Elizabeth Morton Wildlife Refuge, would become a cherished place for the family, particularly the grandchildren, to gather over the years. Kelley would often attach a large gardening wagon to the back of his ride-on lawn mower and take his young grandchildren for rides around the sprawling backyard.

He was also an avid banjo player, and frequently joined in on family jam sessions during the holidays and leisure time, with various other family members who sang and played guitar.

The move to Sag Harbor in the 1980s represented a sort of semi-retirement for Kelley, although he continued to work into his late 80s as a bookkeeper/accountant for several local businesses, including the longtime pizza and Italian restaurant Conca D’Oro in Sag Harbor, nearby Harbor Deli (in the building that is now home to Goldberg’s), and the Ice Cream Club (in the building that is now home to Grindstone Donuts), as well as Fishers Home Furnishings, among others. He ran that business from the finished basement office of his Sag Harbor home.

He was married to his wife, Eileen Kelley — with whom he shared a birthday — for 57 years, before her death in 2001. A few years after her death, he remarried, in 2003, to Aurelia McNeil, who survives him.

In the later years of his life, Kelley enjoyed trips into Sag Harbor to visit with his clients at their places of business — often picking up a slice of pizza, a deli sandwich, or ice cream cone in the process — and also frequently played golf at Sag Harbor Golf Club at Barcelona Neck. He was also well known for his collection of Hess holiday trucks, which were once the subject of a feature story about holiday collectibles in 27 East Magazine.

He liked to remain social even as he took on less business during the latter years of his life. He would attend events at the American Legion, and liked to go into town in Sag Harbor for dinner. In the last three years of his life, his mobility was limited after he suffered a stroke. But he still enjoyed getting together with family and seeing his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He had a few surprises up his sleeve in those final years — during one trip to his daughter, Patricia’s home in Sag Harbor, he was helped into a chair in the backyard near the pool to watch his great-grandchildren swim. Without warning, he decided to jump into the deep end, fully clothed, and swam the length of the pool.

It was hot, he said.

Arrangements for a memorial service in Sag Harbor are forthcoming.