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Former James R. Kelly, Jr Property |
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Wood's on Kelly Property
When James R.
Kelly, Jr. of Tacoma Park died in December 2002, he left instructions
in his will that a 75-acre vacation retreat he owned in North Harford
County be kept "wild and unimproved" by an organization such as Harford
Land Trust, Inc. It is a remarkable property and Mr. Kelly was a
remarkable man.
He was a native of Harford whose varied achievements were climaxed by
the Distinguished Career Award, the highest honor of the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs, for the innovative outpatient treatment
program he developed for that agency.
HLT has completed the agreement of sale for his North Harford property
and expects to take ownership this June for $75,000. With a challenge
grant of $25,000 from a foundation that a Trust donor has matched, HLT
still needs to raise $25,000 for the Purchase Price. To carry out Mr.
Kelly's wishes that the property be preserved as a natural area in
perpetuity, HLT is preparing a joint-conservation easement with
Maryland Environmental Trust.
The Kelly property is in Harford's northwestern corner south of the
juncture of Harkins Road and Onion Road, one of the least traveled
areas remaining in the county. It is an unspoiled acreage of mature
deciduous forest through which flows Big Branch, a major tributary of
Deer Creek. There is a cabin there where Mr. Kelly enjoyed rustic
weekends and was host to his many friends.
His will stipulated that cabin and woods, by sale or donation, "remain
in private, non-governmental ownership, wild and unimproved to be used
for educational, conservation and recreational purposed only, and that
any future alterations or structures be kept to a minimum necessary for
maintaining the property."
James R. Kelly, Jr.
James R. Kelly, Jr. was only 68 when he died of throat cancer on
December 12 at a hospice near his Tacoma Park home. He grew up on a
family dairy farm in Churchville and went to Bel Air High School. With
a facility for languages and a desire to travel he aspired to a career
as a diplomat and went to the Georgetown University School of Foreign
Service. He was a member of the U.S. Army Intelligence in Heidelberg,
Germany at the time of the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
After two years in
the military he made a career change, earning a masters degree in
psychiatric social work in 1961 from the University of Chicago. He then
climbed through the ranks of the VA hierarchy to become chief of
community care programs from 1975 to 1988 and director of extended care
service from 1988 until his retirement in 1997. In these roles he gets
much of the credit for developing adult day care and home health-aid
programs as an alternative to long and costly nursing home or hospital
stays for veterans. Mr. Kelly never married. He was famed through his
wide circle of friends as a gourmet cook, a highly informed gardener,
singer, dancer, conversationalist, desirable guest, host and world
traveler.
His obituaries in both The Sun and The Washington Post featured his
pilgrimage in 1998, after retirement, to the cathedral dedicated to St.
James the Greater in Santiago de Compostele, Spain. Mr. Kelly spent
three months walking the 800-mile pilgrimage route from near Paris, a
route traveled by pilgrims since the Middle Ages, and making lasting
friends along the way. James R. Kelly's Harford County property is a
welcome addition to Land Trust holdings to be kept, according to his
wishes, as an undisturbed natural area. It is also a reminder to future
visitors of a life well spent.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 February 2008 )
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