Jerry's Memories

Note: The following are based on transcribed notes from conversations with Jerry Kelly between 1993 and 1996. They're not chronological, but give a good glimpse of the wealth of information Jerry had in his memory well into his 90's. They were double-checked by Jerry's longtime business associate, Jane Branch, in July 2005. --Kevin (September 2005).

Notes from Jim Walsh, February 1993 meeting

“Ann and I visited and had dinner with Uncle Jerry, Herb and Jane Thursday and Friday nights. Cocktails at Jerry’s Thursday and Jane and Herb’s Friday. Bama and Maggie were sibling beagles. We ate at DeCesare's where Mikhail Brheznikov was also eating. The owner greeted us and gave us celebrity seating and service. The owner who has known Jerry a long time. Jerry knows Arnie and Jack Niklaus. He was friends with Niklaus’ father.

Henry M. Kelly worked with Ottawa Silica and GM in a defense of a lawsuit involving shatterproof glass. GM was so impressed with Henry, they offered him the opportunity to represent GM as a legal counsel in Detroit. Thus the entire family moved from Otawa, Illinois to Detroit.

Jerry also made reference to Henry going out to the Texas and Oklahoma oil fields, nearly freezing in the early 1900’s. This is the same property that the family is receiving royalty revenues from now.

Jerry headed up Kelly Brothers real estate which at one time had 22 salesmen working for him.

Purple Gang—Joe Bernstein (Jerry became friends with him at the racetrack)

Grandma Kelly [Mollie] loved Poker

Henry Kelly, Jerry’s dad, worked his way out to Texas and Oklahoma speculating

The Kelly house in Ottawa was on Pearl Street

Brother Walter enlisted and was in the Normandy invasion on Day 2. Walt was the quiet one with immense good will

Sister Laura and Walt loved playing cards

Laura was a terrific tennis player, used to beat men. She also beat many arm wrestling.

Henry used to walk to work every morning, befriending many of the needy along the way. Many came to his funeral.

Harry received a letter of recommendation from Woodrow Wilson for his valor in WWI after losing his leg. His wife Anne was a gracious host, according to Thomas Dewey.

Jerry always felt it was difficult to follow in his brothers’ footsteps.

Emmet had a banjo “hide” signed by a famous cartoonist.

Henry M. received honorary degree from Notre Dame and the University of Illinois, but never graduated from law school.

Jerry worked in World War II on the proximity fuse, a super classified project. [part of the Manhattan Project]

Walt and Jerry owned a gas station in Detroit. It was robbed twice. They also owned a record store. Both were on Livernois.

Interview with Jerry by Jim Walsh, 1996

Bob Hope and Perry Como are pictured with Jerry. Walt’s son, Paul Kelly has ___?

Jerry has known Bob hope so long that he can’t remember when he met him. He told the story of Bob Hope coming down in Air Force 1.

Walt Disney/John MacArthur (billionaire founder Banker’s Life Insurance) who first met with Walt and Jerry at a small house. J. Mac (Skipper) owned. Jerry picked up Walt and took him over there and Walt commented, “Is this his house?”

Jerry used John MacArthur’s 5 year-old Cadillac to take both of them out to the site where the proposed Disney World was to be. John instructed Jerry to take a shortcut off the road across the rough country to the building where they were to have their meeting. Jerry told "John Mac" he was going to stay on the highway. Mac insisted and Jerry told him if he wanted to, he could drive. Mac took the wheel and proceeded to travel across the bush country with Walt Disney bouncing around in the Cadillac. As they were going through the wild country, they hit a stump so hard that it bent the fender by the right wheel (Walt’s side) so badly that when they stopped, Walt couldn’t get out of his side. They were also leaking fluids (oil, gas and water).

The three subsequently became good friends and the plans were put into motion for Disney World in southern Florida.

A feasibility study was performed by a group from S. California. That was okay after 1.5 years when the deal was ready to be finalized, Roy Disney and a group came to Florida. They set up a meeting in one of Palm Beach’s hotels. (They rented out the top two floors and no one was allowed to leave. Jerry and Mac were the only ones representing Florida and felt very outnumbered. The same setup that JFK had used for his meetings there.)

After some discussion, John Mac left the meeting to go to another meeting. He could not get along with Roy Disney. He told Jerry that if had to stay in the room with Roy he was afraid he would pop him in the mouth. Apparently, Roy wanted to control the real estate surrounding Disney World and John Mac felt that it was his to control.

Walt loved the seafood and Morton’s (Jerry arranged for the owner to go down to the ocean and purchase fresh fish, and told the bartender how to make the dry martinis. Walt enjoyed it so much that he wanted to go back to the same place the next day. So Jerry had to break away quickly, call the owner and do the same thing all over again.

Notes from Ann Walsh (Jim’s wife)

John MacArthur and Jerry used to have a single lunch together after working all morning. “Skipper” enjoyed sweets and would encourage Jerry to order dessert. But Jerry didn’t favor sweets so he would decline. Skpper would then relent by saying they would split one piece of pie. Jerry agreed reluctantly then they had to make the decision of vanilla or chocolate. John favored chocolate but Jerry said it didn’t agree with his stomach. So they had to flip a coin each time to determine what flavor. Jerry thought it misleading and amusing that any casual observe would easily conclude, “Look at those cheap old codgers…not only are they too cheap to order their own piece of pie, but they have to flip a coin to see which one of them will pay for it.

Interview with Jerry Kelly, March 17, 1995 by Kevin Walsh

The Kellys moved to Palm Beach in 1949. (See Jerry's son Bill's home page for an account of that move.) Emmett owned land. Jerry needed to take Jerry Jr. to a better climate. Jerry Jr. died in 1980. He, then Jerry, began each day with the flag raising at the end of their subdivision.

Kelly Bros. Real Estate (Larry, Walter and Jerry--[perhaps Emmett originally?]). Eight years after they moved, John D. MacArthur settled in the PB area. The land that was going to be Disney World became the PGA resort in 1969. Jerry spent a week with Walt Disney, a “super guy” who told him of his early days and drew a Mickey Mouse for a fan.

Jack Niklaus and his family are good friends of Jerry’s.

Jerry has known Burt Reynolds since he was a child. Burt’s parents owned a restaurant that Jerry and Edna would frequent after Sunday mass.

Jerry was married to Edna for 50 years. She was the girl across the street who attended Georgetown. Jerry called her the “girl who put the sticks in my bike tires.”

Many photos in the Kelly Brothers real estate office with Bob Hope, Perry Como, groundbreaking of the PGA resort.

Larry Kelly’s motel, Yacht Harbor Lodge, was removed for a parking structure for Barnett Bank, although 2 buildings remain beside the bank.

Jerry was going to send a photo of Perry Como cutting his hair.

Jerry gave me a book of clippings and copies of photos.

Their first four years in PB there were 2 hurricanes.

Jerry went to University of Detroit High School and UofD college.

Jerry told of a burglary of their Chicago Blvd (Detroit) house. The burglar shined the flashlight on Jerry’s face and told him to shut the dog up. His mother slammed the door and started to call the police, the burglar fled, fell on a rug on the landing and escaped.

Joe Bernstein Jr. was the son of a Purple Gang member next door and a playmate of Jerry’s while Harry was a prosecutor in Detroit. Both houses shared a driveway and a ring of garages. “You could drive a little car around it like a racetrack.”

Their previous house in Ottawa was “too big and frightening for me at the time.”

Jerry and Walter got their law degrees but never practiced law.