Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly
A very sad end...
At the time of his death in October 1952, aged 59, Kelly had become a "grizzled old man" – penniless and all but forgotten. He was by then a widower who had been on
home relief for six months, and his son was in the
U.S. Army overseas. He had been suffering from an
asthmatic heart and
hardening of the arteries.
[3][5]
Kelly died on October 11, 1952 when he was struck by a car while walking on
Manhattan's West
51st Street,
[3] near the
rooming house where he lived and not far from his birthplace.
[22] For a time his body was unclaimed at the morgue,
[1] but he was buried at
Long Island National Cemetery in
Farmingdale, New York.
[2]
Belongings found in Kelly's room included a
duffel bag still packed with ropes and flagpole-sitting gear, "in case any fresh jobs came along."
[11] At the time of Kelly's death a
scrapbook of his exploits was under his arm. He had titled the scrapbook "The Luckiest Fool on Earth."
[3][22]
"Shipwreck" Kelly pole sitting in 1942
Kelly married an elevator operator, Frances Vivian Steele of Dallas, Texas,
[3] whom he met while pole sitting.
[1] They had a son, Alvin Kieran Kelly,
[3] who became a laborer for the
Clyde Beatty Circus. In June 1973, the son was killed at the age of 45 by an elephant during a performance in
Tenafly, New Jersey. A female
Asiatic elephant lifted him in the air and then put him down and stepped on his chest, crushing him to death before a horrified crowd.
[11][20][21]