John P. Kiely

John Kiely, Elder Class of 1953, went on to attend Xavier University and after graduating he joined the Coast Guard Reserves before deciding to go to law school at the University of Cincinnati.  While in law school he worked as a law clerk at Rendigs, Fry, Kiely & Dennis, where his dad was a senior partner.  John eventually was hired as an associate, and then later became a partner.  In 1967 John married Marlene and had two children, Michael and Colleen.  In 1998, after John learned that he had lung cancer with an undesirable prognosis, he decided he wanted to do something for Elder, the school he still loved.  He had been giving to the Annual Fund for years, but he wanted to do something “special” which would continue after he was gone so he created this scholarship.  One year after he started his scholarship fund, John died suddenly and yet in his memory, many friends donate to his fund and due to continued donations, his scholarship continues to grow to this day.