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Thomas Paine Kelly Jr. Was A Courtroom Tour De Force

Tribune file photo by CANDACE C. MUNDY (2002)

Besides his legal career, Thomas Paine Kelly also served on the State Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, local Red Cross committees, The Committee of 100, the Tampa Boys' Club and served as president of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

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By RICHARD MULLINS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

TAMPA - Thomas Paine Kelly Jr., a prominent Tampa lawyer who practiced until he was 92, died Tuesday in Tampa from complications of a stroke. He was 95.

Known as "Paine," Kelly had a career that in some ways followed the growth of the Tampa region.

Born near Interbay Boulevard in South Tampa, he graduated from the University of Florida law school in 1936 when the population of Hillsborough County was just 143,519. After law school, he joined his father's legal practice, which represented clients such as the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co. and the P&O Steamship Co.

While serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, Kelly was captured by German forces during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. After four months in a prison camp, he and two other Americans escaped, using a compass hidden inside his jacket.

During a 2005 interview with The Tampa Tribune, he said, "The three of us took one week of walking at night, following the compass, to get back."

He was found in Germany, coincidentally, by a future mayor of Tampa, Julian Lane, who was nearby.

Back in Tampa, Kelly practiced trial law for 56 years, most of them with the law firm of Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen.

In those decades, he won an Outstanding Citizen award, served on the State Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, local Red Cross committees, The Committee of 100, the Tampa Boys' Club and served as president of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Kelly's daughter Carla Kelly said he served so many groups and causes that "he and my Mom were out nearly every night at some event." Kelly was an eager debater, she said, and the family dinner table was a near continual debate forum.

"In a good way, everything was challenged," she said. "Sometimes debated to tears, but there were a lot of good heated discussions."

Later in his career, Kelly's clients included the Florida Portland Cement Co., which had major operations near Hooker's Point and faced complaints from Davis Islands residents.

In one case in 1978, he represented The Tampa Tribune against a claim of libel brought by a former Polk County sheriff's deputy. After a two-day trial and 30-minute deliberation by the jury, the Tribune prevailed.

"His work was very methodical," said James Goodwin, chairman of Macfarlane Ferguson. "He was old-school and believed in a great deal of preparation. ... He was an impeccable dresser, and in a courtroom he would naturally be the center of attention, and he would create a story for the jury they could follow. ... And he most always won."

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins@tampatrib.com.

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