DE FACTO: Ambrose Kelly was one of a kind

It’s strange how we think that certain people will always be around. We realise they’re dancing with time and some day the music will stop. What unsettles us is that when it happens we seem to be so ill-prepared as shock takes over.
It happened over two weeks ago when Ambrose Kelly died in Chicago. It was a shock, plain and simple. Ambrose was always there and was always expected to be there. One could not envision life without him.
Ambrose Kelly of Mill Street, Westport, was no ordinary man, nor even an extraordinary man. He was greater than all that. He was unique in every way. He embraced life for all it was worth, with a big and generous heart. He was true to himself and in doing so, was a backbone of support to his family, neighbours, community, friends and work colleagues.
He was the epitome of the genial host, as members of St Patrick’s Drama Group experienced on more than one occasion. There to meet us at O’Hare Airport when we arrived, prepping the set for our performances, striking the set afterwards and there to see us off. In between, he and his wife Theresa were there to entertain us, to mind us, to feed us and to make sure we all had a great time.
He made us proud to be Covies, natives of Westport. He was all that’s good about the best of humanity, an ambassador of goodness, kindness and selflessness. He wore it all lightly and with great humour. He would always attribute his goodness to his beloved Theresa and their wonderful family.
Ambrose arrived in the US on March 27, 1957, on the Queen Mary. He travelled alone. The seventh son of a seventh son spent almost 68 years in the US. He served in the US Army, was a proud Carpenters Union member, and according to his grand-daughter’s beautiful eulogy, ‘a Jack and master of all trades’. He had a powerful work ethic, right up to the end.
He was synonymous with the Irish American Heritage Centre in Chicago, which hosted St Patrick’s Drama Group’s visits. His handiwork, or rather the work of a master craftsman, is showcased in the centre, in his home and in the homes of family and friends.
We marvelled at his honest and proud expression of his heritage and culture. He loved Ireland and regularly visited home, crossing ‘the pond’ 110 times. His special love was Westport. He was the archetypal Covie and one of the founding members of Covie Week. Our most recent communication was his expression of how much he was enjoying Noreen Malone Tunney’s book, ‘Fr Patrick Malone - Friends You Used to Know’, on the famous Aughagower priest.
A lover of conversation and great storyteller he was also a food critic. “I could resole my shoes with those eggs,” he quipped after a breakfast was served up to him by a family member!
To say we’ll miss him is a huge understatement. We’ll miss the big, generous heart, that beaming smile and those dulcet, deep tones – “How’ya Cove.” We have lost a legend and a true friend.
‘He got a great send-off’, as we say here. Family and friends participated in his funeral Mass. Army representatives presented the US flag that draped his coffin to his family, after the 13 ceremonial folds, before he was lowered into the earth.
The Book of Ecclesiasticus says: “A faithful friend is a sure shelter. Whoever finds one has found a rare treasure.” Ambrose was that to all of us. In the depths of our sorrow we can only wish him peace as we thank God we were blessed to know him and call him a friend.
For us the dance with Ambrose is over, for him it’s starting all over again. His wife Theresa, daughter Elizabeth, and family await.
To his children, their spouses, grandchildren and his brother Tiny, be assured of our prayers, our love and always a place in our hearts for the Kelly family, Mill Street. In Ambrose’s own words, “Bye for now, Cove.”
Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam dílis. Ní bheidh a leithéad ann arís.