The pastor at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church here was killed Wednesday morning when a tree limb fell on him as he was trying to remove another fallen tree from Harmony Church Road.

"He was pronounced dead at the scene, " said Loudoun County Sheriff's Department Spokesman Kraig Troxell.

Parishioners gathered at the church Wednesday evening to pray and to remember the priest who was named to the parish in 2006.

"He believed all the souls within the boundaries of the parish were his responsibility to go out and help and serve and he took that very, seriously, and it didn't matter what religion you were, he was always willing, and able to go out and help people, " said Tony Pantaleo, a member of the church's finance committee.

"I feel that I'm going to be sick to my stomach. He was a loved man in this community, I know, and just a very, very unique person, someone who inspired you when you left church every Sunday morning," said parishioner Terry Reilly.

Members of the parish gathered outside Father Kelly's office Wednesday evening, looking at a montage of photographs of the priest assembled on a presentation board in the church office. In one series of pictures, Father Kelly is shown riding his 10-speed bike, which is decorated with a replica of a World War Two plane. He is wearing what one friend called a Snoopy Hat, the kind seen on the cartoon character who fights The Red Baron in a famous series of comic strips.

In that picture, Father Kelly is wearing a wide smile, as he is in photographs of him at a civil war re-enactment ( another love ) and with children from his church who are surrounding him and laughing as the shutter clicked.

"He loved life. From the smile on his face you could see he absolutely loved life. You could sit down and he was very easy to have a conversation with, and I think he was absolutely perfect for the parish, Pantaleo told 9News Now.

Faith is examined on nights like this. Why, asked 9News Now, would God take someone this beloved at age 53?

"In some grand plan, He must be looking down saying 'If I'm going to take Father Kelly, everybody will know that, at any time, you have to cherish the moments that you have here and do good while you're here and try to bestow spirituality and kindness on other people, because everybody can go at any time,' and he's a shining example of that because he truly led a full life," said Reilly.

"He's going to be missed terribly. It's a tremendous, tremendous loss to this community," Reilly said.

"I'm sure Father Kelly would say 'don't worry, I'll be in my final resting place now with God,'" Pantaleo told 9News Now.

source: wusa9.com

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