Canon John Kelly

He has died aged 83, and was born in Hunslet, Leeds, leaving school at 14. In later life, he considered himself fortunate to have been born

and raised in a part of the city where the people were "warm and friendly and willing to help others".

On leaving school, he went to work in the circulation department of the city's now-defunct Yorkshire Evening News.

As a young man, he harboured a desire to offer himself for priesthood, and he finally approached the then Bishop of Leeds, Bishop John Carmel Heenan, who accepted him as student of the Leeds diocese.

As what was then known as a "late vocation", he began his training with the Carmelite Fathers at St Mary's College in Aberystwyth, and after two years' preparation he proceeded to the seminary at Ushaw in County Durham. He was ordained to the priesthood at St Anne's Cathedral in Leeds in 1961.

Between 1961 and 1979, Fr Kelly served as a curate in a number of parishes across the diocese: St Joseph's, Brighouse, St Cuthbert's, Bradford, St Alban's, Denaby Main, St Joseph's and English Martyrs, Kendray, Holy Family, Leeds, St Mary's, Selby and St Brigid's, Churwell.

In 1979 Bishop Wheeler appointed him as parish priest of the Sacred Heart at Hemsworth but ill-health forced him to leave the parish after just a few months. Nevertheless, he was remembered there fondly and especially for his "gentle kindness".

He returned to Churwell to assist the parish priest and took over himself in 1981, the same year that he joined the diocesan finance department. In January 1986 the new Bishop of Leeds, Bishop David Konstant, appointed him as chaplain to the Little Sisters of the Poor and their residents at Mount St Joseph's Home in Headingley, Leeds.

Here he became a much-loved and much sought-after pastor and confidant, whose care and compassion touched countless lives within the home and far beyond. He was devoted to his flock, and they to him.

Fr Kelly's contribution to the life of the diocese was recognised in 1989 when he became a Canon of the Leeds Cathedral Chapter.

He retired as Assistant Financial Secretary in 1993 and as Chaplain to Mount St Joseph's in 2002, following his 75th birthday.

In recent years Fr Kelly suffered from Parkinson's disease and although he bore his illness with great patience and dignity, his condition became increasingly distressing for his family and his many friends.

In retirement, he continued to live until his death at Mount St Joseph's.

He once remarked that he was born and bred in a parish dedicated to St Joseph, a man "never in the limelight, always in the background but you could always depend and rely on him".

Much the same could be said of Fr Kelly himself, a modest, good and holy man and an outstanding priest.