Kelly Kerr

She was like a mother to many of the underprivileged kids in Millvale and surrounding neighborhoods.

Kelly Kerr made sure their families had dinner at Thanksgiving. She saw to it that children had presents at Christmas. She took them to baseball games, festivals and parades. She made sure kids had school supplies each fall and warm clothes each winter.

"You just can't separate Kelly from Millvale," said the Rev. Pat Pugh, who runs Cincinnati Urban Ministry Outreach in the neighborhood. "That was her heart. It was her life. She served that community almost literally until she took her last breath."

Ms. Kerr knew cancer was killing her. But she continued working as director of the Millvale Recreation Center.

"The two years they gave me to live were up three years ago," Ms. Kerr said in an Enquirer article published in August 2009. "When it's my time, it's my time - that's God's choice."

The time came Saturday at Christ Hospital. Ms. Kerr, 46, of Fairview, had been at work as recently as the previous Tuesday.

Pugh, a native Cincinnatian, met Ms. Kerr in 2001 when he returned to the city from Memphis with a goal of starting a ministry in Millvale.

"She played a huge role in helping us get acclimated in the neighborhood and helping to launch our ministry," which is based at the recreation center.

"That's always been a forgotten neighborhood in this city," Pugh said. "Kelly had a heart for the underdog, especially kids."

The Findlay, Ohio, native never had children of her own. She never married.

She devoted her energies to the recreation center, where she started work in 1997.

She wrote grants so the center could have a computer lab and so the center's young boxers and dance teams could go to national competitions.

She took young people to work the University of Cincinnati and Bengals concession stands. She allowed children to earn pool or center memberships by sweeping floors, bagging trash and scrubbing toilets.

She partnered with Pugh's ministry to establish a Christmas store in the rec center. Instead of giving away donated toys, prices were drastically reduced, so neighborhood residents could buy them.

"She always tried to do things to bring dignity to the people in that neighborhood," Pugh said.

Her sister, Leslie Smith of Louisville, said Ms. Kerr "lived her life for that community."

"A couple of times there was talk she could be promoted to a management office job. And she always said no," Smith said, because she didn't want to remove herself from the neighborhood and its children.

Kids "just adored her," Smith said. "She would have 20 of them all over her (calling) 'Miss Kelly! Miss Kelly!'"

Ms. Kerr was known for working 12-hour days, seven days a week, even after her cancer diagnosis.

"Even when the community center was closed, she would be in her car, in the parking lot, passing out food for kids," said friend Nedra Polk of Sharonville.

"If (kids) didn't have food or if they didn't have clothes, and she couldn't get donations, she would go shopping herself.

"Her goal was to make sure every child had a chance."

In addition to her sister, survivors include her father, Les Kerr, of Fort Myers, Fla.; and two brothers, Scott Kerr of Hebron; and Todd Kerr of Fort Myers.

A celebration of her life is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Crossroads church, 3500 Madison Road, Oakley. At 3 p.m., a reception will be held at Millvale Recreation Center, 3303 Beekman St.

Memorials: KIS (Kids in Stress) Foundation Inc., in care of Leslie Smith, 3708 Lime Kiln Lane, Louisville, KY 40222. Donations to the foundation in Ms. Kerr's name will benefit the Millvale community.

Written by John Johnston