Tribute to SDCI Board Member Joe Kelly

It is with profound sorrow that the Board of Soldiers Delight Conservation, Inc. announces the passing of our esteemed and much-loved board member, Joe Kelly.

Joe Kendall Kelly first became involved with Soldiers Delight through his longtime friendship with its current president, Laura Van Scoyoc. Joe’s acquaintance with Laura spanned almost forty years, dating back to when they first met in 1986.

One winter day in 2004, when Laura said she was going off to Owings Mills to perform several hours of volunteer work outdoors hacking away at invasive species threatening to overrun rare and endangered plants native to the serpentine barrens that run through northwestern Baltimore County, Joe offered to tag along to see if he could be of help. Joe became involved with Soldiers Delight for the rest of his life.

In 2007, after many hours spent volunteering with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service’s Serpentine Ecosystem Restoration Project, or SERP, Laura invited Joe to accompany her to a board meeting of Soldiers Delight Conservation, Inc., the Friends group for the habitat, of which Laura had been a longtime member. After attending a few meetings and expressing his desire to become involved with our cause, Joe was voted in as a member of the board of directors.

When Joe was not busy working his shift as an intelligence analyst for the defense sector, from which he retired in 2023, he made every effort to attend board meetings, to continue his work helping to eradicate invasive plants with SERP projects during the winter, and to assist with various fundraisers and other activities hosted by SDCI.

"Joe was the most generous, kindhearted man I've ever known," says SDCI president Laura Van Scoyoc. "He wouldn't hesitate to help with anything that was needed, no matter how much time or effort it caused him."

Joe recently returned to Maryland following a nearly year-long stint in Texas caring for an elderly family friend who was dying of cancer. Following her death, Joe stayed several additional months to get her house fixed up and ready to sell and to care for her beloved dog and cat. Out of the goodness of his heart, Joes offered to adopt the cat and had just returned home to Maryland with his new feline companion.

The SDCI board will remember Joe with much love. His enormous capacity for caring -- and translating that compassion into physical acts of great kindness -- made Joe stand out as a rare gem.