Life on Dry Land

Drawing of Edward Kelly

Credit: Loyola University Chicago Archives & Special Collections

Around the time Ed Kelly moved to Norfolk to work on the Oceanographer in 1931, he met Rosemary Dugan at a Halloween party. The two began writing letters to each other and visiting whenever he was in town. Over the next few years, their relationship grew. He worked on the Oceanographer until 1933. Ed soon found a job working in Washington, D.C., and he married Rosemary in June 1934. They had a daughter, Patricia, in 1939.

Ed eventually worked for the US Federal government in various roles as a researcher and special assistant. In the 1940s and 1950s, he worked for the Office of Economic Defense and Trade Policy, the Office of International Trade Policy, and the Office of International Trade and Resources. Ed and Rosemary spent the rest of their lives together in the Washington, D.C. area, moving only to Alexandria, Virginia. Ed died in 1968 at the age of 60, and Rosemary then moved out to California to live with her daughter. Rosemary passed away in 1980.

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