Remembering the Kelly Family

THE LEGENDARY LOCALS of Ocean City book, written by Fred and Susan Miller, includes two pages on the Kelly Family.

The John B. Kelly Sr. family lived in Philadelphia, but had a summer home at 2536 Wesley Avenue in Ocean City. Kelly Sr. won gold medals in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games for doubles sculls rowing and, in 1920, also for singles sculls rowing. He was a strong supporter of the Ocean City Beach Patrol and a close friend of lifeguard captain Jack G. Jernee. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Kelly as the director-general of physical training.

John B. Kelly Jr., known a Jack, was a member of the Ocean City Beach Patrol from 1942 to 1944. He was a champion rower for the lifeguards. He completed in the 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1960 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal for singles sculls rowing in 1956.

Grace Kelly was in her first movie, Fourteen Hours, in 1951, and went on to star in many more. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for Country Girl in 1954. In 1956, she left films to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. Princess Grace and her husband often brought their children to visit her parents in Ocean City.

Peggy, the oldest sibling, and Lizanne Kelly, the youngest, were big supporters of Jack and Grace, and Ocean City.