Henry William Kelly

Henry W. Kelly, who ran the weekly newspaper in Park River for nearly half a century, died May 23, 2024 at the age of 97. He was a resident of the N.D. Veterans Home in Lisbon at the time of his death.

Readers of The Walsh County Press in Park River knew that Henry was a self-described hayseed born on a farm in Cato Township during the Great Depression. Along with his parents, Henry E. and Ann (O’Brien) Kelly and brothers Tom and Pat, he worked on their Ramsey County farm until economic conditions nudged them to leave the farm in 1942 and resettle in Minneapolis where he graduated from South High in 1944. That summer Henry signed up for the U.S. Navy — shipping out in July 1945 to Yokosuka, Japan where he served as a signalman, directing World War II occupation vessels sailing into Tokyo Bay.

After the war, he returned to Minneapolis where in 1949 he married Georgette Assad and also graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Henry, Georgette and  their son Sean moved to Park River in 1953 where he worked at the Walsh County Press for his uncle and aunt, Harry and Rosamond O’Brien. The untimely death of his uncle just six months later put him on the path to become publisher of The Press. Community journalism was his passion, and the whole family worked in the back shop as printer’s devils. The newspaper provided him with a platform to promote his community, and he worked tirelessly on various economic development projects.

He was a partner in DAK Publishing and later Kelly Publishing, which owned chains of weekly newspapers. Other business interests included SKM Cable TV and the Alexander House.

The North Dakota Newspaper Association twice gave Henry the Best Columnist Award for weekly newspapers. He also took much pride in being a lifetime member of the American Legion.

He married Donna Percarpio in 2000 in Park River.

In retirement when he wrote letters to his great-grandchildren, he set a few ground rules: write in longhand and come up with at least one solid question that required a thoughtful response. This resulted in lively correspondence, especially during the time of Covid.

To the end, HWK retained his optimism for life and his passion for making new friends — always imparting nuggets of advice about how to live a good life.

Survivors include his wife Donna Kelly; children Sean (Cheryl Baumann), Greg, Colleen (Mark Kansteiner) and Dennis (Missy Vetter)  Kelly; grandchildren Gannon (Mary), Fallon (Beth), Brendan (Maggie), Alyssa, Brett (Ann) and Brad Kelly, Christina (Tyler) Pesta, and Zane, Jacob, Evan and David Markel; and great-grandchildren Laura, Cate, Caemon, Avalon, Seamus, Elin, David, Addison, Holden, Noel and Lila.

He was preceded in death by his first wife Georgette and his brothers Tom and Pat.

Mass of Christian Burial will be Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 10:30 AM at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Park River, ND. Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service at the church.  Military rites will be provided by the Park River American Legion Post #147 and the US Naval Honor Guard.  Memorials may be sent to the ND Veterans Home, 1600 Veterans Dr., Lisbon, ND 58054. Interment will be at the Calvary Cemetery of Park River.

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