Robert E. Kelly of Oceanport, beloved husband and father, died Oct. 26, 2025, at the age of 94.
Robert was born June 2, 1931, in Jersey City, where he spent his youth hopping rides on PT boats, serving beers at the Democratic Club poker games and jumping off the bridge over Newark Bay. His teachers at St. Peter’s Prep would be surprised to learn that the kid who couldn’t sit still and liked to cause trouble grew up to be a fantastic writer who read the Wall Street Journal and New York Times every day.
At 17, he joined the Marine Corps reserves and at 19 was shipped across the globe to Korea, where he endured a war that would stay with him his entire life.
He rarely spoke of the experiences that earned him two Purple Hearts for his participation in the Forgotten War, an image of himself on the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia and mentions in more than one book about his role in the battle and retreat from the Chosin Reservoir.
Back home, he spent eight years in night school to earn his degree from Rutgers University. He became the father of three strong sons, Robert, William and John. In 1972, he married Linda and they had two daughters, Shannon and Reagan, whom he never treated like “girls.” In December of this year, he and Linda would have been married 53 years.
Robert spent almost his entire career at Johnson & Johnson as a salesman and ultimately as vice president of sales across JNJ and its subsidiary companies in New Brunswick, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, retiring in 1992.
Bob was the life of the party, with a quick wit, sparkling blue eyes, thick dark hair and a dazzling smile. He was creative, adventurous and hardworking. He could build anything, including a “River Room” for his family and a dock with a Rube Goldberg-worthy installation of ropes, weights and whips to keep his rotating cast of boats floating an equal distance for every point. His passion was being on the water – fishing, duck hunting, crabbing, cruising, dragging his kids in tubes and, most of all, sailing. He loved to be at the helm. Thanks to him, each of his children and his eight grandkids has salt flowing in their veins.
In 1994, Bob served as commodore of the Shrewsbury Sailing & Yacht Club in Oceanport, where he was honored with a lifetime membership for his service to the club. However, he’s probably best known for initiating the sunset tradition – ringing the bell as the sun dipped into the Shrewsbury and leading the group in singing “God Bless America.”
He was also a longtime member and president of the Root Beer and Checkers club, and this year, the winner of its esteemed 8 Ball Award. In 2024, he was Grand Marshall for the Oceanport Memorial Day parade and gave the keynote address on Veterans Day. Bob also gave his time to the Oceanport Waterwatch Committee, an early environmental watchdog group, the Oceanport Environmental Commission, and Love INC, which sought to equip the underserved.
Bob’s wish, and he always got what he wanted, was to live out the rest of his life in his home on the river – and that he did. On a sunny Sunday after having spent the day with his daughters, wife and two of his grandkids, he watched one final time as the youngest boy sailed his boat back to the dock for winter storage.
A memorial visitation was held Nov. 3 at Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank. A funeral service was held Nov. 4 at Tower Hill Presbyterian Church, Red Bank. In lieu of flowers, please honor Bob’s service with a gift to Wounded Warrior Project at woundedwarriorproject.org.
The article originally appeared in the November 6 – 12, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
