Longtime Rockville Centre teacher, coach Edward A. Kilkelly dies at 86

Longtime Rockville Centre teacher and coach Edward A. Kilkelly died on Aug. 15 of natural causes. He was 86.

Kilkelly was born in 1935 and grew up in Astoria, Queens. He graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s degree in education and then received his master’s at New York University. He also took graduate courses in administration and education and earned an administration degree from Queens College in 1970.

One of his first teaching jobs was at St. Agnes High School, where he taught social studies and coached track. He went on to teach social studies, history and economics and coach track while serving in various administrative roles in several school districts and eventually served as assistant principal at South Side High School. When he had summers off, he worked as a camp director at Camp Fordham in the Catskills.

Kilkelly met his future wife, Kathleen Mcloughlin, when they both marched in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City. in the 1950s. They wed on June 20, 1959, and had two children, Ned and Mary Beth. In 1965, they moved to Rockville Centre, where Edward became a fixture in the community.

“He always had ideas and he was always interested in doing great things,” Mary Beth Kilkelly recalled. “He was always good at working together with people. He was a very, very friendly person and was able to meet people and put things together. He just loved the town.”

Edward Kilkelly’s community involvement included working closely with the Recreation Center in the village, helping to create the Turkey Trot event around Thanksgiving and serving as a member of the Rockville Centre Kiwanis Club. Mary Beth fondly recalled that she ran in the Turkey Trot in 1973 and earned a trophy, which she still has to this day, and that at the encouragement of her father, she became one of only two female soccer players in the Rockville Centre Soccer League in the mid-1970s.

Mary Beth recounted that her mother was working at Mercy Hospital as a nurse when her father encouraged her to shift to Molloy College. Her mother then decided to go back to school and earned her degree, eventually becoming a professor of nursing at the school.

“He was the kind of person who saw potential in people and said, ‘You can do it!’” Mary Beth said. “And that’s a story we keep hearing.”

When he turned 68, Kilkelly decided to travel to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he fulfilled a dream of teaching history and coaching track there alongside volunteers that were in their early 20s.

Kilkelly’s family meant a great deal to him, his daughter said, and his calendar was often filled with visits to his nieces and nephews or his attendance at sporting events and concerts that they took part in. She added that he loved to drive and fondly remembered that once she and her family members were having a discussion about their favorite places to visit, and her father loved Rockville Centre so much that he said his favorite place to drive was N. Village Avenue. She said her father had the ability to make anyone laugh and loved telling jokes.

In addition to his children, Kilkelly is survived by his sister, Rosemary Kane; his brother, Frank (Betty) Kilkelly; his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Murphy; his daughter-in-law Tracy Elliot; his grandchildren, Molly, Emma, Jack and Beatrice; and several nieces and nephews. Kathleen predeceased him in 1997.

Kilkelly’s funeral Mass was on Aug. 24 at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church, and he was buried at St. John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens.

“He never wanted to leave Rockville Centre,” Mary Beth said. “He love, love, loved RVC.”