John J. Kelliher

1938 - 2020

Kelliher, John J. ALBANY John J. "Jake" Kelliher, born on October 14, 1938, to Francis and Eleanor (Curran) Kelliher, died on October 11, 2020, at home, due to complications of mantel cell lymphoma, melanoma, and Parkinson's Disease. A proud graduate of Vincentian Institute, he attended Holy Cross College, and after two years, St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers to study for the Roman Catholic priesthood to which he was ordained in 1965. He served one year as principal of Cathedral Academy in Albany, and then as a Newman chaplain at R.P.I. for one year, and SUNY at Oneonta and Hartwick College for the next three. During his seminary years, he lived for part of the summer 1959 in San Francisco, seeking experience which would be foreign to most parish priests. Living in the North Beach area, he often spent evenings at Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore and other locations listening to the then popular beat poets reading their work. When in need of money, he tried selling encyclopedias door-to-door; when that didn't suffice to put pizza on the table, he and a friend with whom he shared an apartment worked as a migrant bean pickers - an experience so meaningful he vowed to repeat it within 10 years. In 1969, he fulfilled his promise in the Texas panhandle linking up through another friend with the family of Eligio "Joe" and Beatriz Vega who welcomed him into their family of three daughters living at home and two sons who were working elsewhere. They lived as family, calling each other mi hermanos y hermanas (my brothers and sisters), and celebrated birthdays and anniversaries, on occasion in self-consciously "weird" Austin, Texas. In 1970, he moved to Boston to become the director of planning for founding of the National Center for Campus Ministry. This followed a conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and a summer of attending workshops at the Center for the Study of the Person and at Esalen, both in California. Jake returned to Boston, to spend the year recruiting a faculty and then a student body for a residential training experience among the great concentration of academic powerhouses in the Boston-Cambridge area, where the students could intern and exchange ideas with experienced chaplains and other specialists. In 1971, Jake began law school at Northeastern University in Boston, where he found work as a night watchman in a university building. He also joined a volunteer effort at Walpole State Correctional Facility helping "lifers" write their briefs attempting to have their conviction and sentencing overturned. Finally, after internships at the law firm of Hale and Dorr in Boston, and in three Albany governmental jobs (the Governor's Office of Employee Relations, the Department of Environmental Conservation, and SUNY Counsel's Office) and completing law school, he joined New York State service. Before reporting for work, the day after taking the Bar Exam, Jake and his long-time friend and traveling companion, Reverend Tony Chiaramonte, took a six-week vacation in Alaska as the guests of Archbishop Joseph Ryan, a native of Albany. With his assistance in providing a car and introductions, they traveled from Anchorage, to Kodiak Island, the National Park of Mount McKinley (now Denali) and were introduced to the rugged life of the Northern Frontier. One year later, he and Tony took off for Harlan County, Kentucky in support of the United Mine Workers 18-month strike against the mine operators. In 1978, Jake joined Governor's Counsel's Office where he specialized in labor law and economic development. That was one of the most fulfilling jobs in a varied employment life. He became deputy commissioner and counsel to the N.Y.S. Department of Commerce and in 1982 he moved to the Public Service Commission as secretary to the commission, a position he held until his retirement from state service in 1995. In 1986, Jake joined the Board of Historic Albany Foundation where he met Christine Miles, newly appointed director of the Albany Institute of History and Art. They fell in love and married in 1990. The remaining years were filled with joy and friends in downtown Albany, and travel to Russia, Turkey, Egypt, China, England, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and a number of areas of the U.S. They also shared a cabin on Lake George with Jake's sister Mary Ellen and her husband, Michael Halloran, for over 30 summer seasons. Those were days often occupied sailing the beautiful lake - a pastime they enjoyed immensely. After retirement in 1995, he took a year off to learn how to use a computer and play golf. It was a well-intentioned but only moderately successful effort in both areas. He then took a position with the investment management firm of Bullard, McLeod as compliance officer, working three days a week; and after ten years of that schedule, retired again for the last time. Christine was fond of saying that Jake never made a friend he forgot; and it is doubtful that any friend Jake made could ever forget him. His and Christine's life together was filled with the special bond of friends whose memories knit them in a great network of camaraderie. Jake was to give that network a special place in the maintenance of his very positive approach to the end of his life, saying often that having collected his various experiences of a lifetime, he was looking forward to the final step, the ultimate adventure. Rest in peace, dear friend In addition to his parents, Jake was predeceased by an older brother, Frank; and his sister Mary Ellen. He is survived by Christine, by several nieces and nephews and grand nephews and nieces, by two brothers-in-law, and by a host of friends. Special thanks to Dr. Andriana Lisinschi of New York Hematology-Oncology and Dr. Octavian Adam of the Movement Disorders Clinic of Albany Medical Center, and to the Community Hospice. Since Jake donated his body to the Albany Medical College Anatomical Gift program, there will be no funeral. There will be a memorial service for family and close friends in St. Vincent De Paul's Church, 900 Madison Avenue on October 30, at 11 a.m. Due to COVID-19, capacity is limited. Post COVID-19, the family will host celebration open to all. Livestream of the service will be available on Facebook: St. Vincent de Paul Church-Albany. Those wishing to attend may register online at https://www.stvincentalbany.org/prayer-and-spirituality In lieu of flowers, send donations to St. Catherine's Center for Children Foundation, 40 North Main Ave., Albany, NY, 12208 and Historic Albany Foundation, 89 Lexington Ave., Albany, NY, 12206.