BY SPORTSCAST WRITER
HARARE – The family of John Kelley, who died in the United Kingdom on 1 August at the age of 93, developed an undying love for their adopted homeland Zimbabwe resulting in them living in the African country for more than half-a-century.
Kelley worked in Zimbabwe for over 50 years, mostly writing sports, but he also flourished in other beats including covering the country’s worst mining disaster which occurred in 1971 at Hwange Colliery in north-western Zimbabwe.
“We emigrated to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1969 when our children were 10 and eight,” Barbara Kelley told SportsCast from the UK on Thursday.
“John came in July and then we followed in December after selling the house and sorting out all our affairs in England. It was an immediate love affair with the country and the people, and we never looked back.”
A keen golfer himself, one of Kelley’s notable works was a book on the century-old history of Zimbabwean golf.
The couple have a son, Quenton, and daughter Joanne. They also have three grandchildren – Jack, Kelly and Mark – as well as two great grandchildren Zachary and Zoey.
