Kelly Flite spread out her fingers to show off her nails. They were painted white, and each carried one letter of the name of her childhood friend, Shane Kelly.
“My brother always joked with him that if he married me, I’d be Kelly Kelly,” she said, laughing. “We grew up like brother and sister. He was an all-round great guy, the jokester of the group who brought all the groups of friends together. If you met him, he’d have been your best friend.”
On November 13, while he was walking home with his girlfriend from a bar in Fishtown where the friends had gathered after a day of paintballing, 27-year-old pharmacy technician Shane Kelly was shot to death in an attempted robbery. His girlfriend, Maryelise Doyne, was dialing 911 before the two would-be robbers had even fled the scene. Two men have been arrested and charged in the killing.
His friends, his fellow Hibernians—Shane was the Sentinal or AOH Div. 61—his soccer buddies, colleagues at Jefferson University Hospital—made up the winding trail of people who waited hours to honor the young man at his viewing. And it was standing room only at Canstatter’s hall on Sunday, January 29, when his AOH brothers and sisters celebrated his life with a fundraiser to benefit Kelly’s family.
“A lot of wonderful people have been there for us,” said Shane’s mother, Maryanne, her eyes watery with tears. She stood in one room of the catering facility in Northeast Philadelphia where rows of tables were lined with raffle prizes. There were 96 of them, ranging from baskets of cheer to a signed Man United soccer jersey. Shane was heavily involved with Casa, a Philly-based amateur soccer league, which has renamed its league championship “The Kelly Cup” in his honor.
A group of Shane’s friends—a mix of old and new—sat together at one table, all wearing the green Div. 61 shirts on which was printed “In loving memory of Shane Kelly,” all sharing memories of a young man, president of his high school class at Frankford High, who was a born leader and the glue that held them together.
“He got everyone together through the AOH,” said Kelly. “I became part of the group when I started dating her,” said Jeff Morrison. “Shane was always the go-to guy.”
“Yeah,” added David Crego, “if you want to know what was going on, you texted Shane.”
“He was also really good at talking,” said Morrison, and the friends laughed.
The Shane they knew was a friend to all, a stand-up guy who died protecting the woman he loved.
“Him and Mar had just bought this house in Fishtown,” said Kelly Flite. “That’s where they were going when it happened. She called 911 and the cops were there fast, but it was too late. She still got to look into his eyes until he lost consciousness.
“There’s a reason there were a thousand people at his funeral,” said Kelly. “He was one in a million.”
View our photos of the Shane Kelly “Celebration of Life” event.
