Kelsey, John Victor Jr (10/15/2019)

Dr. John V. Kelsey, 71, a retired officer in the United States Public Health Service died October 15th at his home in Chevy Chase, MD of natural causes. Known as “Jack” to his family and “Jake” to friends and colleagues he was born in Annapolis, MD on October 20, 1947. His father was Lt. Col. USMC John V. Kelsey who died when he was 10. When his mother remarried a widower with four children, he welcomed his new siblings as a big brother. Jack was a graduate of Dartmouth College, the Georgetown University School of Dentistry, and earned his MBA at the University of New Mexico. He chose a career in public health, and was commissioned as an officer in the United States Public Health Service, where he served in Indian Health on the Navajo Reservation in Chinle, AZ, and in both Gallup and Albuquerque, NM. After Indian Service, he returned to Washington, DC to work at the United States Food and Drug Administration as Deputy Director of the Office of Orphan Products and later as Team Leader and Senior Reviewer of Dental Products and Procedures in the Division of Dermatology and Dentistry. Dr. Kelsey retired with over 30 years of service in public health Jack is survived by his wife, Marian KC Adkins of the home and his beloved daughters Sarah K. Weldon (Henry) of OR, and Erin A. Kelsey of CA, his grandchildren, Jasper and Gemma, brother Brian R. Kelsey (Jodie) of Bethesda, MD, a sister Suzanne K. Malloy of CT, his four step-siblings, and his mother Ann Kelsey Somers of Chevy Chase, MD. Relatives and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life at Joseph Gawler’s Sons, LLC, 5130 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016 on Friday November 22, 2019 at 10:00 AM. Private interment will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association.

(from https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/washington-dc/john-kelsey-889..., accessed 11/19/2019)

From John (Tex) Talmadge '69:

"Jack (aka Jake) was much more than a dentist who worked for the government. Some of us knew him through WDCR, or Gamma Delta Chi, or even via his house painting days in the Hanover area. People who knew him best saw him as relaxed, kind, thoughtful, and good with his hands. He could renovate a home as well as he could repair someone’s broken tooth or misaligned molar. Like many of us, he longed for a life close to Dartmouth, but when he finished dental school he found that starting a practice in New England was a challenge—he mentioned this in our 25th Reunion Book, in fact. The big career change occurred when he joined the Indian Health Service (IHS) and landed on the Navajo reservation in Arizona/New Mexico, and like many of us he fell in love with the land of enchantment, the mountains and deserts, and the people of the Navajo Nation. Ever the student, Jack picked up an MBA along the way, and he was predictably tapped for a leadership position in the Public Health Service back in Washington, D.C., where he took on the serious work of FDA clinical research in rare diseases. Twice married, he is survived by his daughters Erin and Sarah. His plan, back in the day, was eventually to migrate to North Carolina, where wife Mim grew up, but I think they elected to stay in Maryland. For the record, his family called him “Jack” and friends and colleagues called him “Jake.” I would love to know what nickname he had at Gamma Delt!