Father Thomas P. Kelly, a priest of the archdiocese since his ordination on May 23, 1970, by Auxiliary Bishop Jeremiah F. Minihan at Holy Cross Cathedral, died at his home in Dennis on Oct. 24, 2025. He had been living there since his being granted senior priest/ retirement status on June 1, 2016.

He was born on Jan. 22, 1943, the son of the late John and Margaret (Monaghan) Kelly. He attended elementary school at Immaculate Conception, Marlborough, Marian High School, Framingham, and entered the archdiocesan seminaries, first in Jamaica Plain's Cardinal O'Connell Seminary, and for philosophy and theology studies, at the Brighton campus of St. John Seminary.

His first assignment was at Sacred Heart, Manchester by the Sea. During the 46 years of his active priestly ministry, he served either as an assistant, an associate, a parochial vicar, or an administrator at St. Jerome, Weymouth; St. Michael, Hudson; Blessed Sacrament, Walpole; St. Bonaventure, Plymouth; St. Julia, Weston; St. Patrick, Watertown; St. Jerome, Arlington; Our Lady of Lourdes, Carver; St. Francis Xavier, Weymouth; Our Lady of the Assumption, Lynnfield; St. Mary, Georgetown; St. Mary, Billerica; St. Dorothy of Cappadocia, Wilmington; Holy Redeemer, Merrimac; St. Blaise, Bellingham; St. Isidore the Farmer, Stow; St. Peter, Plymouth; St. Linus, Natick; St. John the Evangelist, East Bridgewater; Corpus Christi-St. Bernard, Newton; St. Paul, Hingham; Sacred Heart, Middleborough; Sts. Martha and Mary, Lakeville; Immaculate Conception, Marlborough; St. Joseph, Holbrook; St. Cecillia, Ashland; Sacred Heart, Cambridge; and St. Pius Fifth, Lynn.

The exceptionally long list of parishes is explained by Father Kelly's being assigned for many years as a member of the Emergency Response Team, priests who were willing to be moved to cover priest shortages at parishes across the archdiocese. Usually, the coverage was needed because of the illness of a pastor or a parochial vicar, because of transfer of a pastor to another parish awaiting a new pastor, and if there was a death of a priest at a parish.

Following his retirement, he lived at the family home in Dennis on Cape Cod. His brother is Father John Kelly, also a priest of the archdiocese who was ordained by Humberto Cardinal Medeiros in 1973.

At Father Kelly's request, all of his funeral services were private.