Kelly, Terence

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1994
TERENCE V. KELLY
to be Doctor of Laws

Terry Kelly is a living legend in his hometown of Oshawa, Ontario. For 40 years, he has been one of the most successful lawyers in the community, with a courtroom reputation in criminal law that is the envy of his profession. But his standing in Oshawa comes far more from his community activism than from his professional work. Since the 1960s, he has been the spark plug behind one good cause after another, a tireless fund-raiser and organizer who has raised millions for civic and charitable causes, and who has enjoyed every minute of it.

His success comes from several sources, three of which deserve attention. With a name like Kelly, he has to be Irish. He was born in Toronto to Irish immigrant parents, and as a child he returned to Belfast for part of his education. The Irish lilt is still there, especially when he is excited, as is also a certain Celtic enthusiasm and a remarkable gift for the gab. They say that his opponents in court feel like they have been run over by a Belfast lorry when he has finished with them.

A second source, we might venture, is the University of New Brunswick. Terry took both his B.A. and his B.C.L. at UNB, in 1951 and 1953 respectively. While here, he excelled at soccer, playing on the first varsity soccer team under coach Pete Kelly, whom he credits with instilling in him a life-long love of sport. In his final year, he served as president of the Amateur Athletic Association. Less known, but still remembered by his classmates, was the occasion when Pete Kelly called him from the stands to suit up as the goalie for the last period hi a hockey game against St. Thomas. Apparently the regular UNB goalie had quit. There has to be some inner Irish meaning to this story, because, of course, brought up in Ireland, Terry could hardly stand up on skates. On another occasion, when UNB hosted an intercollegiate boxing match at the Lady Beaverbrook Gym, Terry was pressed into service to entertain the crowd. It seems that the referee had arrived too inebriated to find the ring, and while they searched for a replacement, they handed Terry the microphone. He kept everyone riveted to their seats with an impromptu concert of Irish songs.

The third source of Terry Kelly's success is sport itself. Sport is part of his life. He takes energy from it, he thrives on the electricity generated by crowds and competition, and he infuses that energy into his work and his community endeavors. He has been called a sports junkie, superfan, and a sports fanatic. He has seen every world cup final in soccer since 1966, once attended five soccer games in Scotland in one day, has been known to grab planes from city to city in order to see four National Hockey League games in three days, and when he can't be there in person, he sits at his TV set twiddling the channel selector from one sporting event to another. Far from an armchair athlete, however, he has had a role in creating just about every team that plays in Oshawa, including the Oshawa Generals Hockey Team, he chaired the fund-raising committee that built the multipurpose Oshawa Civic Auditorium, and he has raised hundreds of thousands for wheelchair athletes, the Oshawa Association for Community Living, and the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona. Today, at the apex of his career as a sports promoter, he sits as a governor of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and chairman of its selection committee, as director of Maple Leaf Gardens, and as a member of the board of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club. Terry Kelly, it is said, may be the only person on earth who has left Don Cherry at a loss for words.

Terry Kelly is obviously no ordinary person. For his service to his community he deserves our praise. For his generosity to the Faculty of Law, to UNB athletics, and to UNB in general, he merits our deepest thanks. And as for the Leafs, no one doubts that their day will come.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3