BY TED POTTS
TPOTTS@TRIBDEM.COM
May is a milestone month for Jay Paul and Ruth Kelly of Upper Yoder Township, suburban Johnstown.
The couple will observe their 77th wedding anniversary on May 25. Mr. Kelly marked his 95th birthday May 7. Mrs. Kelly turns 95 on May 27.
Mr. Kelly and the former Ruth Cathleen Carbaugh were married in 1932 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, now Roxbury St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.
Mr. Kelly met his then-future wife at her mother’s grocery store at the corner of Warren Street and Berkley Road in Upper Yoder. He came in to buy 5 pounds of sugar.
As they say, the rest is history.
They are continuing to enjoy their retirement years, albeit at a slower pace than when they began that phase of their lives in 1979.
Both are retired from the U.S. Postal Service. Mr. Kelly’s postal career spanned 29 years and nine months, while Mrs. Kelly carried the mail for 16 years.
With the exception of a short time working in railway mail while riding trains from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, and back, the majority of Mr. Kelly’s time was spent on rural routes in Greater Johnstown. Mrs. Kelly’s time with the postal service was as a rural carrier in Greater Johnstown.
Mr. Kelly retired from the postal service in 1972 and then went to work for the former Emglo plant as a shipping clerk for seven years, retiring from there in 1979. Mrs. Kelly retired in 1979 from the postal service.
When they first retired they did a lot of traveling, mainly on bus tours, with the Hilltop Area Senior Citizens. Among their destinations were Lancaster, Philadelphia, New York and Ohio.
They dined out frequently.
They traveled to California for their son’s graduation from California Technological Institute, for grandchildren’s weddings and for Christmas.
Mrs. Kelly enjoyed making afghans, once fashioning nine in a single year. She has made yarn clowns in a senior crafts class.
Now, they stay close to their home and have given up their car.
Mr. Kelly said he is legally blind. Mrs. Kelly has sight in just one eye.
Mrs. Kelly was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, she said, and described herself in an interview earlier this month at their home as a breast cancer survivor.
“I’m cancer free,” she said.
Mr. Kelly used to fish, bowl, square dance and play cards.
Mrs. Kelly enjoyed knitting, crocheting, needlepoint and playing cards.
They now enjoy watching television, reading with the help of a magnifier, light work around the house and occasionally eating out.
They are members of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Roxbury.
Mr. Kelly is a longtime collector of toys from the 1930s.
Their son, Ron, lives in California with his wife, Mary Jane. He is a retired electrical engineer.
Mr. and Mrs. Kelly have a grandson and granddaughter and two great-grandsons.
The Kellys both held a number of other jobs before becoming postal workers.
He is a graduate of Ferndale Area High School and she is a graduate of Westmont Hilltop High School.
Mr. Kelly, with the assistance of his wife, helped start Upper Yoder Township Volunteer Fire Company and the Hilltop Seniors. Mr. Kelly served as the fire company treasurer for 40 years while Mrs. Kelly was active with the fire company’s auxiliary.
Both are life members of the Upper Yoder company.
A highlight of their retirement came in October 2007 when they observed their 75th wedding anniversary. They marked that milestone on the field at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh before the Steelers met the Seattle Seahawks in a game during the football team’s 75th anniversary season. Following their on-field anniversary celebration, they were taken to a suite to watch the game.
The special day for the Kellys was arranged through the efforts of the wife of their grandson, Tom.
The Kellys bought the lot on which their house now stands for $300 from Mrs. Kelly’s father. With some help, Mr. Kelly built the house, digging the foundation by hand.
Total cost to build the house was $8,000. At the time, bread was 5 cents a loaf and bananas were 5 cents a pound.
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