People of Conshohocken – Fred Kelly

People of Conshohocken – Fred Kelly

2/25/2017

by Brian Coll

This is part of our People of Conshohocken series…

We have close to 10,000 people in our borough, add in the residents of West Conshohocken, Plymouth and Whitemarsh and we have a large community. Some of the people that will be featured will be well known in the area, some will have just moved into the area, some will have been here their entire lives. Some of them may be business owners, or people who walk around the area, or maybe work in the area. Maybe you know them, maybe you don’t. Everyone has a story. While we are only going to take their picture and maybe ask a question or two, we want to share these stories with you.

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Fred Kelly and his dog Willie yesterday afternoon.

Fred Kelly today, this is how you may recognize him on a normal basis.

      Yesterday, on a perfect summer, I mean winter day…… our friend Fred Kelly was walking by with his dog Willie. Normally we say hi, chat for a second and go our separate ways, for some reason we sat down on the bench outside of our shop and started chatting. Fred has lived here his whole life and wouldn’t have it any other way. A few minutes into our conversation, I realized I was going to do a People of Conshohocken segment on Fred so I asked him his favorite Conshohocken memory…. he loved when the covered wagons came through Conshohocken in 1976. He was a short order cook at the time working at the 401 Diner and he was able to enjoy the parade with Bill Danitz and the staff at the 401 Diner.

     Actually, we have never done this on a People of Conshohocken, but here is a photo from that parade:

      In addition to working at the 401 Diner, he also owned and operated Kelly’s at 101 Fayette Street in the early 80’s. It was a little food joint where Jimmy John’s is now. He worked at Moore Chevy for about 30 years, he was sad to see it go. The Moore family was very good to the Conshohockens when the car dealership was in business. However, that door closing led him to his favorite boss he has ever had. He currently works for Donald Moore, the Snear Family and Ruggiero Family funeral home.

     Other things we chatted about were when he was working at the Moore Chevy, he was able to sneak catches in with his son, who now is the pitching coach out at PW High School – Phil Kelly. Fred was on the Little League Board for years and misses it, but has kept busy with other community projects throughout the borough.

      If you see Fred, say smile and wave. If you have a couple of minutes say hi and see where the conversation goes, he’s one of the good guys.