Roy S. Kelley

BERLIN – Roy Sibley Kelley, 86, of Coos Trail passed away on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington.

Roy was born on May 31, 1936, in Montpelier, to Ralph H. and Kathryn M. (Sibley) Kelley.  He grew up on Elm Street, attended Montpelier schools and graduated from Montpelier High School in 1954.  At the University of Vermont, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music education in 1961.  He also completed a Residency in music at the New England Conservatory in 1980.

In 1957, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed at the U.S. Naval School of Music in Washington, DC. He remembered playing in the Navy band stationed on an aircraft carrier off Japan.

On August 7, 1962, he married Jeanine Cloutier, a fellow student and chorus member at UVM in Burlington. They not only shared their passion for music but raised two talented children Melissa and Sean. They first made their home in Waterbury and then South Burlington, VT. They also lived in Brockton and Stoughton, MA. Two years ago, they came back to Vermont and settled in the Kelley family home in Berlin.

Roy’s musical career was multi-faceted and comprised not only his time in the Navy band, but also appearances in the music theater, often together with his singer-wife Jeanine. They even had a name for their musical duet performances: “Two for You”.  A highlight of their musical theater career was their participation in the Champlain Shakespeare Festival. In all his musical life, Roy was first and foremost a performer, an entertainer who wanted to bring happiness to people with his music.

Professionally he brought this talent for bringing joy through music mainly in three areas: music education, choral singing, and church music. As a young musician he was employed by the Waterbury public schools from 1961 to 1963, Burlington school system from 1963 – 1967 and then in Massachusetts by the Brookline school system from 1967 – 1992.   In 1985, Roy founded, and then served as the artistic director, of the Charles River Chorale (formerly the Millis Community Chorale) for many years. Starting in 1998 he acted as director of the Snug Harbor Community Chorus in Duxbury, MA. His memberships in many organizations document how far reaching his interests were. From 1993-1995 he was President of the New England Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. He also served in the American Choral Directors Association; the Music Educators National Conference, the American Guild of Organists and the Greater Boston Choral Consortium.

For half a century Roy Kelley served as church organist and music/choir director for many churches in both Vermont and Massachusetts. From 1995 to 2015 Roy served as organist and choirmaster at St. John the Evangelist church in Duxbury, MA. Then from 2015 to 2020 you could hear him practicing hymns and preludes in St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Holliston, MA. Most recently, in November 2021, he became the Music Director at the First Congregational Church in Berlin-UCC where his mother used to sing solos and where Roy himself played his last service this past Palm Sunday.

Survivors include his wife of sixty years, Jeanine Cloutier Kelley, daughter Melissa Kelley of Brockton, Massachusetts and son Sean R. Kelley of Summerfield, Florida and four grandsons Nicholas, Jacob, and Hunter Kelley and Wyatt Mullaney.

He was predeceased by his parents.

The service to honor and celebrate his life will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 2:00 pm at the First Congregational Church of Berlin, 1808 Scott Hill Road. The service will be followed by a Dixieland style procession to the Berlin Corner Cemetery and a reception back at the church Community Hall.