Robert S. Kelly, sportsman

Robert S. Kelly of Rehoboth Beach and Venice, Fla., passed away Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, of cancer.

Bob will be lovingly remembered and missed by his wife Trena S. Kelly; his brother, Edward F. Kelly of Indianapolis, Ind.; two stepsons, Bill and Tammy Hansen of Georgetown, and Marc and Tracy Hansen of Lewes, and their children.

Bob was incredibly selfless, always thinking of and helping others.  He was a Ralph Helm fellow with the Dewey Beach Lions Club, a several year member of the board of directors of Sussex Habitat for Humanity and a volunteer at the All Saints’ Parish Thrift Shop.  He was a lifelong Catholic and attended St. Edmond Catholic Church in Rehoboth.  He and Trena established endowments with the Delaware Community Foundation and Delaware Technical Community College, and he certainly left the world a better place than he found it.  

He was born in Logansport, Ind., in 1936, the son of Sylvester and Germaine Kelly.  He graduated from Indiana University and was a member of Theta Chi fraternity.  He served in the U.S. Army Reserves and moved to Arlington, Va., where he had a 29-year career at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  He created and coordinated trade shows abroad to help U.S. businesses sell their products overseas.  

Upon retirement he moved to his beach house in Rehoboth where he met his wife, Trena, while playing golf at Sussex Pines Country Club in Georgetown.  His friends could often locate him on the tennis courts because of his wonderful, contagious laugh, and he could also be found biking the trail to Lewes or the Venice bike trails where he and Trena had a home.  

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to St. Edmond Church, P.O. Box 646, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971.

Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.melsonfuneralservices.com