| John "Jack" Clifford KellyAccording to his son, Jim, "At five foot nine and three-quarter inches, Jack Kelly was not a tall man, but he had a tall presence and always commanded attention when he entered a room." In spite of having only an 8th grade education, he was driven to succeed. Besides working his entire life for C. Reiss Coal Company, he owned his own trucking company, J. C. Kelly Trucking Co., a grocery store, and a Farm. During the 30’s and 40’s he owned as many as fifteen trucks and did 90% of the local coal hauling for Reiss. Jack's brother Lester managed things while he maintained his day job with Reiss. His obituary states he was affiliated with Reiss for 43 years. Given the fact that he died at age 56, he must have started working for Reiss while a young boy in Ashland, Wisconsin before moving to Minneapolis.
He was born July 16, 1896 in Ashland, WI and died in the winter of 1953 on February 5 at the age of 56 of a heart attack. Jack married Clara Regina Dahlman on July 17, 1919 one day after his 23rd birthday and three months after being discharged from the Army. Clara was not quite 18 when she married Jack.
The attache letter is reveals much about Jack Kelly. He was a caring father, earned a lot of money and took his Catholic faith very seriously. Side-1 | Side-2 |Envelope with date of March 17, 1944. Discharge Papers: Side 1 | Side 2 | Military Photo |
