PEABODY — Paul Kelly died on June 27, 2021 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Kelly served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1964-81, but did not qualify for a military headstone because of a law that states only those who were active duty are eligible to get a headstone, and Kelly served in the reserves.
Kelly’s wife, Linda, wanted to get a headstone for him, whether she had to pay for it or not, because he was “dedicated to the Marines” throughout his life.
“We met in high school, we were both at Lynn Classical, and he was already in the reserves when I met him,” Linda said. “He was very devoted to the Marine Corp… He enlisted and he never stopped being a Marine.”
Kelly — who spent most of his life in Lynn but moved to Peabody five years ago — was in the Essex County Marine Corps and was one of the founders of the Marine Corps League Charter in Peabody.
He attended wakes and funerals of veterans up until four years ago when his Parkinson’s disease made him unable to.
Kelly also helped to run numerous Toys for Tots drives, fundraisers and events; served on the reunion committee and alumni association for Classical; and worked for the Christian Book Service in Peabody until he retired.
“I’m very proud of him for everything that he did,” Linda said.
Given his commitment and years of service to this country, Linda wanted her husband of 53 years to be honored and remembered for his service.
She reached out to local Veterans Service Officer and Attorney Steve Patten so he could look over the law that was preventing her husband from getting a headstone for his service.
Patten, who has served as an attorney for more than 20 years and was a military lawyer, noticed something in the law that could help Linda get the headstone.
“I noticed there was a section of the law that said if you were being treated, at the time of passing, for a disease that you incurred during active-duty training, then you qualify for a headstone,” Patten said.
After speaking more with Linda about her husband’s training, Patten learned that Kelly spent time in individual combat training at Camp Lejeune.
From 1953 to 1987, water at Camp Lejeune was poisoned, and the Veterans Association came out with a list of diseases qualifying individuals who served at Camp Lejeune potentially for a “service connection” related to the disease.
At the time Kelly died, he was being treated for Parkinson’s, which is one of the diseases listed.
“It’s awful. You drink it and think everything is fine and next thing you know, it leads to a disease,” Patten said.
This qualified Kelly for a service headstone, which was “great news” when Linda received a letter confirming the headstone last month.
Patten has worked with veterans for two decades and said he has never had a greater return on his education than working through this case with Linda.
“My lawschool education is what taught me to look into things like this and it’s what made me pull that law and what made me see that exception,” he said. “For the first time in 20 years I really feel like it (his education) paid off.”
Kelly’s headstone will be installed at Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn next month, and Linda said she is happy to have a headstone of her husband to go visit.
“Linda was persistent, dedicated and passionate and didn’t give up on this headstone,” Patten said. “She’s really an amazing woman that the rest of our veterans can only hope we have people in our lives who care about us that much to see that we are guaranteed to be remembered.”
