TOPSHAM – James Thomas Kelley Sr., 85, died Thursday, April 22, 2010, at Amenity Manor Nursing Home. He was born March 28, 1925, in Sherman, a son of Charles and Ella Rush Kelley. James was a graduate of Sherman High School, Class of 1947. He married Antoinette Civiello in June 1949. They had seven children together during their 25-year marriage. Antoinette died in 1974. He then married Sylvia Macpheters in 1975. Sylvia died June 14, 2002. In his early years he worked his own dairy farm in Millinocket and in 1955, he established Kelley’s Mobile Home Park, which provided housing for the employees of Great Northern Paper Mill. He enjoyed snowmobiling in the winter and summers spent surrounded by his family and friends on Ambajejus Lake swimming, boating and water skiing. In 1978 he retired and spent the winter months in Florida, where he enjoyed gardening and landscaping, swimming and bicycling. He was predeceased by his brothers, Charles, Joseph and George; and a stepson, Charles Clark Jr. He is survived by three sons, James Kelley Jr. and his wife, Betsy, of Millinocket, Peter Kelley and his wife, Gwen, of Rancho Bernardo, Calif., and Kevin Kelley and his wife, Lisa, of Hampden; four daughters, Carmella Thurston and her husband, Gene, of Southwest Harbor, Jane Burich and her husband, Anthony, of Topsham, Nora Tando and her husband, Richard, of San Diego and Mary Kelley and her partner, Mark Fuhri, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; a foster daughter, Jamie Chong-Ae Kabbage and her husband, Dalil, of San Diego ; a sister, Mary Giberson of Medway; a stepson, Rick Clark and his wife, Denise, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.; two stepdaughters, Susan Henderson and her husband, the Rev. Donald, of Sarasota, Fla., and Sally Marcum and her husband, Hardey, of Louisville, Ky.; and 18 grandchildren. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 27, at St. Charles Borromeo Church, McKeen Street, Brunswick. Flowers may be sent to Brackett Funeral Home, 29 Federal St., Brunswick. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the American Lung Association. Interment will be at Millinocket Cemetery, Medway Road, Millinocket, at a later date and announced at www.brackettfuneralhome.com.
JAMES THOMAS KELLEY SR.
