Edward Joseph Stewart Kelly

Edward Joseph Stewart Kelly, 62, died of cancer Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, at his Canal Point home in Rehoboth Beach. Mr. Kelly, known as Eddie, arrived in Rehoboth Beach as a 1-year-old in the summer of 1955 when his family rented a home on Virginia Avenue. He returned every summer.

Eddie began working summers full time about 1968. He befriended the Simpler family, and got a job in the kitchen of the Avenue Restaurant on Rehoboth Avenue. In 1970 he worked with the housekeeping staff of the Hotel Henlopen and was a weekend manager of the hotel’s Boardwalk coffee shop. He was a devoted fan on the old Sammy Ferro Orchestra, the Henlopen Hotel’s house dance orchestra.

He later worked for the Boardwalk Five and Ten Cent store, and managed its Beach Shop on Rehoboth Avenue. He resided for many summers at a third-floor apartment he called The Attic on Wilmington Avenue in a building owned by the late Grace Cooper, mother of Rehoboth’s mayor.

Born in Baltimore and raised on Guilford Avenue in Charles Village, Eddie was the son of Joseph B. Kelly, a thoroughbred racing writer at the Washington Evening Star, and M. Stewart Monaghan Kelly, a social worker.

He was a graduate of the Baltimore Academy of the Visitation, Baltimore City College and the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he earned a bachelor of arts. Beginning in 1976 he restored a family home in Baltimore’s Federal Hill neighborhood.

He joined Baltimore’s Hochschild Kohn department stores in 1975 and later became men’s designer collections buyer for the old Hutzler’s department store. He made annual buying trips to woolen mills in Milan and attended the annual menswear designer show in Paris. He was also a trained gemologist, and managed a MelArt jewelry store in Laurel, Md. He had also managed the Value City department store at Westview in Baltimore.

In recent years, after moving to Canal Point from Salt Pond in Bethany, he was a sales associate at Sea Finds, the Penny Lane shop in Rehoboth. He last worked at the shop in the late spring.

Mr. Kelly lent objects to the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society. He worked on the society’s post card show and had earlier contributed to its women in Rehoboth exhibition. He was also a member of the Rehoboth Art League, and collected the works of Delaware artists, including Laura Hickman and Howard Schroeder, among many others. He was a volunteer at Epworth Methodist Church’s kitchen. He and his husband are well known in the gay community where they established an amazing number of friends.

Survivors include his husband, Robert P. Hughes, his life partner of 38 years. They married in 2014 in Rehoboth. Survivors also include a brother, Jacques Kelly of Baltimore; four sisters, Ellen Cora Kelly, Mary Stewart Kelly, both of Baltimore, Ann Rose Stewart Whaley of Ocean View, and Josephine O’Rourke, also of Baltimore.

Harry Freed

J. Harry Freed, age 65, of Rehoboth Beach, DE passed away on Monday, August 22, 2016, at Beebe Healthcare, in Lewes, DE.  He was born Tuesday, July 10, 1951 in Lakewood, NY, to Harry Freed and Mamie (Alexis) Freed.

Mr. Freed worked for many years for Verizon Communications. He was an animal lover and an incredible writer. He enjoyed traveling to Florida and collecting antique telephones.

Mr. Freed is survived by his loving partner of over 38 years, Stephen P. Dolhancryk of Rehoboth Beach, DE and his faithful dog, Chelsea.
A Celebration of Mr. Freed's Life will be held at a later date in Rehoboth Beach.

Memorial contributions may be made in Mr. Freed's name to the Humane Society, The Delaware Humane Association, 701 A Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 or to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 163, Salisbury, MD 21803.