Donaldson N. Kelly

Don Kelly was born in Baltimore in 1912 and educated at the Baltimore Friends School, graduating cum laude in 1930. He attended Johns Hopkins University, receiving a BA degree in June of 1934.

An outstanding athlete, at Friends School he was captain of three sports -- football, basketball, and lacrosse. He was chosen All-Maryland in both basketball and lacrosse, and his Friends School lacrosse teams of 1928 and 1929 were scholastic champions.

At Hopkins, Don continued his athletic career and became one of Hopkins' all-time great sportsmen. He won eleven letters at Hopkins -- three in football and four each in basketball and lacrosse. Don won All-Maryland honors at the intercollegiate level in both basketball and lacrosse, and was chosen on the All-America lacrosse team for four straight years -- third team in 1931, second team in 1932, and first team in both 1933 and 1934. Don played on the 1932 Olympic lacrosse team and in 1937 played on the American Flannery Cup Team. 

At Hopkins, Don's lacrosse teams were national champions in 1932, 1933, and 1934. Don was chosen captain of the 1934 All-American team and the same year became a member of the All-Time Hopkins Team.

After college, Don helped form the BAC lacrosse team and played for them from 1935-41. In 1937, BAC won the Open Championship. Don coached his alma mater, Friends School, in 1936, 1937, and 1938, while working for the General Motors Corporation. In 1936 and 1937, the Friends School team won the Maryland Scholastic Championship.

Don later moved to Chestertown, Maryland, and became owner and president of Don Kelly Chevrolet and Buick, Inc. He found time to coach the Washington College lacrosse team from 1958-77, and did an outstanding job, compiling a record of 161-91-1. Washington won eight Strobar (South Atlantic) Division Championships and his teams were ranked high nationally on several occasions. In 1977, Don's final year, Washington played in the NCAA Division II/III Championship Game, losing to Hobart.

Don was a member of the NCAA Rules Committee and in 1966 he was selected coach of the year in lacrosse. Don was inducted into the Johns Hopkins Hall of Fame in 1995.

In 1999, Sports Illustrated listed Don as one of Maryland's 50 greatest athletes of the 20th Century.

Don Kelly passed away in June 2000.