Manchester Sports, Education Icon Thomas Kelley Dies

MANCHESTER, CT — Thomas Kelley, a popular local sports and education figure and a member of the Manchester High School Athletic Hall of Fame, died last week at the age of 88.

Kelley was a lifelong resident of Manchester and he burst onto the local sports scene in the post World War II era by leading the Manchester High School golf team to consecutive state titles in 1948 and 1949. He was also the individual champion in 1948.

He served in the Navy for two years as the assistant athletic director at Anacostia Air Base and then was a physical education teacher at Illing Junior High School and was the department head from 1960 to 1990.

He coached the boys soccer and golf teams and was the Connecticut golf Coach of the year in 1979.

His was the supervisor for the town's summer aquatics program for more than three decades and was a basketball official for the IAABO and CBOA over than same time span.

The boys gymnasium at Illing was named in his honor upon his retirement in 1990 and he became a member in the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame the same year. He served as president of the hall of fame from 1990 to 2000.

See his obituary here.