Letter: Kelly is good man on, off field

To the Editor:

I became acquainted with Marty Kelly while pacing the sidelines hoping none of the Wingers playing his heart out on the field would get injured and require my attention.

Even then I took special note of Marty for his determination, dedication, mental as well as physical ability, sportsmanship and his leadership qualities, traits which were apparently noted by his peers who elected him co-captain his senior year, a year, incidentally, in which the Wingers went all the way to the state championship semi-final game on an icy evening I shall never forget. His non-football fellow students also recognized his developing leadership qualities by electing him their student body vice-president.

Over the years I have continued occasional contact with Marty who had been a classmate of our daughter who settled in Red Wing to raise her family. I watched her and my other daughter’s boys have contact with him in his capacity as a volunteer coach, grateful that they could be exposed to someone of his character, while knowing that he was also a law enforcement officer.

We are fortunate to have had an essentially well-run sheriff’s department and I am confident we will continue to do so. I believe that the addition of Marty Kelly as leader of that department will make it even better.

Nils Fauchald

Red Wing

Tags: marty kelly, elections, opinion, letters, county