John R. Kelly

John R. Kelly, Age 67 of Maynard, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Thursday December 15, 2016. He was the loving husband of twenty-five years to Susan E. (Rafuse) Kelly.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 19, 1949, he was the son of Elizabeth (Stoughton) and the late John W. Kelly. John graduated from Lexington High School in 1967 and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Syracuse University in 1971. He received his Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University.

John was the owner and operator of Concord Engineering, specializing in industrial automation and robotics. Earlier in his career he had worked for the US Navy, GE, Thermo-Electron, Automatix, and Digital Equipment Corporation.

John had a passion for music and played in many bands with varying genres from rock, country, bluegrass, swing and zydeco. He loved sailing, and was an avid sailor in Weekapaug, Rhode Island serving as Vice Commodore of the Weekapaug Yacht Club. John enjoyed woodworking and was a skilled craftsman who built custom furniture and restored his beloved Beetle Cat sailboat. He enjoyed working on his home and tinkering with anything mechanical, including the restoration of vintage motorcycles and machinery. For many years, John enjoyed playing squash and, in 2000, was the National Men's 2.5 finalist. Above all, John's greatest joy was being with his family.

He is survived by his loving wife Susan, daughter Sarah Elizabeth Kelly, mother Elizabeth Stoughton Kelly, sister Susan Kelly Robinson and husband Jiles Leslie Robinson, two brothers Peter Stoughton Kelly, Patrick Gunnar Kelly and wife Laura Melia Kelly and his nieces and nephews.

Family and friends will gather to honor and remember John on Saturday, January 7, 2017 from 2:00 – 4:00 (visiting at 2:00, remembrance at 3:00) at Fowler-Kennedy Funeral Home, 42 Concord St., Maynard, MA. Celebration of life to follow at Battle Road Brew House, Maynard MA.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in John's name can be made to the

MSPCA at https://www.mspca.org/donate-now/

Sweet Relief at http://sweetrelief.org/donate/general-fund/

or

American Cancer Society at https://donate3.cancer.org/?campaign=CY16EOYResearchCB&amount=50